New Beginnings
by Secret-Telling
Summary: What if Emma invited Regina along with them to the diner at the end of Queen of Hearts? What if they had come to a sort of truce? Would that truce survive when Cora and Hook come to town along with some other visitors?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: nothing's mine. **

* * *

Emma opens the door to the pawn shop so that everyone can walk through. She smiles at everyone as they pass. Just happy to see familiar faces. Henry stands next to her and she can't help but pull him to her side. She never wants to let him go again. He wraps his arms around her waist as they wait. How many people were in there? She wonders. She is dying to get her hands on a burger and fries. Fairytale land most definitely did not have those. Finally the last persons out when she realizes someone's missing.

Regina.

No matter how many times she wants to blame that woman for everything that's gone wrong in her life, she can't help but also feel grateful to her. If not for her she would have died coming out of that well. If not for her, Henry wouldn't have turned out as good as he did. No matter what the kid says, Regina took care of him. Put a roof over his head, food on the table, held him when he was scared and took care of him when he was sick. She can't just look past that. No matter how much she has ruined _her_ life. She still did something that she couldn't. She took care of Henry.

So Emma squares her shoulders and heads back into the pawn shop. She can make out Gold's voice and what he says to Regina strikes a chord in her. She can feel anger and surprisingly protectiveness for the former mayor. She sticks her head into the door surprising them both.

"You coming, Regina?" She meets the brunette's gaze head on. Regina looks absolutely, completely stunned. So much so that she doesn't say anything. Her mouth opens and closes and she looks confused. Emma has to grin. Who knew all you had to do to shut up the mayor was by being nice. The brunette truly did not expect it.

"I mean you did save my life and all. If not for you this guy would have fried me." She nods her head in Rumpelstiltskin's direction. She's still looking at Regina. "I at least owe you a drink." Regina finally comes out of her confusion and gives Emma the first genuine smile that she has ever seen that wasn't directed at Henry.

"Well, if it'll make you feel better dear." Emma has to roll her eyes because she knows how hard it is for the mayor to show how much she appreciates this. How much it means to her to be included. Especially when old Rumple there throwing it in her face that she wasn't invited. She has to put it out there like she's doing emma a favor, but emma allows it and moves out-of-the-way so the mayor can walk past her. She turns around to look at Gold and sees a contemplative look on his face. And since she's feeling so generous and is just glad to be home.

"All right Rumple, you can come too." She says exasperated and can't help the satisfaction she feels of not only rendering Regina speechless but Rumpelstiltskin as well. She's on a roll today. "I'm sure Belle will be around to keep you company so you don't get bored."

That jolts him out of his stupor and he immediately makes his way to the door. And there's the soft side she's been hearing about. Emma shakes her head as she follows behind him. As she exits the pawn shop she sees Henry standing next to Regina waiting for her. Henry's holding her hand and she can tell how that little gesture means the world to the former evil queen. She walks up and takes Henry's other hand and tugs them along.

"I don't know about you two but I'm starving. They definitely don't make burgers in fairytale land. Something your book left out by the way." She looks down at Henry as he laughs and is surprised to hear the mayor laugh as well. Another first for her. She looks over and smiles at Regina who doesn't notice because she's too busy enjoying the moment.

Before she knows it her attention is grabbed by Henry who is telling her everything that has gone on while she's been gone. She gives him her undivided attention because she realizes she missed just hearing the sound of his voice. She knows it now. She's finally home.

* * *

The diner was loud, full of laughter and smelled amazing. Emma's mouth was watering right when she stepped in. She practically dragged Henry to a booth and in turn he dragged Regina. It was the most undignified emma had ever seen her. She huffed when she finally came to sit across from her and Henry.

"Miss Swan, you can't be that hungry. You nearly ripped Henry's arm out of his socket." Regina scowled but her words didn't have the same bite that they usually had.

"Hey you try living off of rabbits and squirrels and whatever else they fed me. After a while I stopped asking." She shivered at the thought. Regina's smile seemed to grow with this knowledge. It was definitely a smirk now.

"What was it like there Emma?" Henry piped in before the two women could really start arguing. He hadn't seen his mom like this in a while. She seemed lighter somehow. She had this light in her eye that he hadn't seen in a while. He took a deep breath in and couldn't help the feeling of contentment that rushed through him at having both of his moms so close. Just the smell of Emma's leather jacket made him feel safe again. And now that his mom seemed like a real mom he couldn't help his goofy grin.

"I'll tell you all about it after we get our food. Hey Ruby! Can we get our usual?" Emma yelled over the noise. Ruby turned to them with a smile. She was a little surprised to see Regina with them, but kept her mouth shut.

"Anything for the savior!" She hollered back. There was a cheer through the crowd at the word and Emma felt a light blush creep up her neck. She immediately stamped that down. She hated being called the 'savior'. It just didn't suit her at all. Looking across from her she noticed the mayor didn't like it either. Well, at least that made two of them.

"So, kid you're learning how to sword fight and ride a horse? Hope you're not skipping out on your homework or else Snow's gonna be upset." She winked at him.

"Of course I'm doing my homework." He rolled his eyes at her and any awkwardness she was feeling was gone. Henry had that effect on her and it helped Regina too.

"I knew you'd do you're homework whether I was here or not to correct it." Snow chimed in as she came to their booth with Charming. He still had his arm around her and it looked like he wasn't going to let her go anytime soon. Henry grinned up at her.

"Thanks, grandma!" Snow beamed down at him with a chuckle. James grabbed two chairs and they joined them at their table. Regina stiffened but didn't say anything. Emma couldn't imagine how uncomfortable she must be feeling at this moment. Luckily, Ruby came at that moment with their food.

"Mmmmm" emma stifled a moan at the food placed in front of her. She rubbed her hands together before she grabbed it and took an enormous bite of her burger. Everyone laughed at her and even Regina had an amused expression on her face.

"What?" She asked and Regina passed a napkin to her and she smiled sheepishly as she wiped her mouth.

"Hey kid, you should tell grandma what you've been up to since we've been gone." It was so easy to change the focus to Henry. He relished the attention and went into great detail telling Snow everything he could think of. It gave her time to eat her food in somewhat peace and listen to her kid at the same time. It was a win-win situation.

* * *

Emma had her arm over Henry's shoulder as they sat in the booth. Everyone was done eating and they were just enjoying being back together. She was surprised Regina was still sitting across from them. She hadn't said anything, which was probably why everyone was still in a good mood. It had been a little tense at first, but then when everyone realized she wasn't going to antagonize anyone it settled everyone's nerves. Emma and Snow were still a little cautious, but Henry and even James seemed to not mind her presence.

Snow and Charming decided it was time to go and talk to some of the other people who had come to celebrate their return. It seemed more people had come once they had heard. The diner was packed. Some people, namely Leroy or Grumpy as he goes by now, were having a really good time and if she still had her sheriff job then she would probably have to lock him up later.

She watched as Snow went over to him and took his drink as she chided him. He sobered up pretty quickly after that and Emma smiled to herself at the exchange. Snow had told her how close her and Grumpy were. She chuckled as she watched them and could see they were indeed close. It wasn't long before a couple of kids came and dragged a reluctant Henry away. He didn't seem to want to leave Emma's side and to be honest she didn't want him to leave either. But she had nodded and said it was ok. He had friends now. She was happy with that. They had plenty of time to catch up later. She didn't even realize it was just her and Regina at the table until the brunette cleared her throat. Emma turned her gaze to her. They studied each other for a moment until Emma broke the silence.

"I still don't like you." Her comment made the former mayors lip twitch, trying to hide a smile it seemed.

"Good because I don't like you either." Emma nodded. Glad that was cleared up. She let out a sigh.

"I don't want to fight anymore. I've had my fair share of it for a while now and I'm tired of it." Regina nodded in understanding. She found herself curious about what the blonde actually went through while she was in the Enchanted Forest. It must have been hard.

"From what Henry and Charming said you've been trying to redeem yourself. I find that hard to believe," she saw the brunette about to interrupt her but she kept on going, "but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because I trust Henry's judgment. I won't make the mistake of not believing him again." Regina watched the pain in Emma's eyes as she looked at Henry on the other side of the diner. He was enthusiastically re-telling the story of her return.

"Thank you." Regina didn't know what else to say. She knew that Emma could make her life hell.

"Don't thank me. Thank Henry. As much as I wish it wasn't true you're still his mother. He still loves you and I won't come between that." Regina let out a ragged breath. She didn't realize how much that would mean to her. Emma just confirmed that Henry still cared about her. Still loved her. That's all she really wanted now.

"If you don't mind though I was hoping he could spend the night tonight. I just need to be with him for a while. Just to make sure he's safe. That he's real. That I'm really here."

"Didn't he tell you he was staying with Charming?" Regina looked confused.

"You allowed that?" Now Emma was shocked.

"I wasn't going to lock him up in his room. Not that I didn't try. But I couldn't do that to him. So I let him go." Regina looked away not wanting Emma to see how much that had cost her. It had almost killed her letting Henry go off with Charming.

"Maybe you have changed." Emma said more to herself than Regina. "Well then I'll ask Henry what he wants to do. Then we'll see if we can come up with some sort of arrangement." Regina knew this was the best that she would probably get so just acquiesced to Emma. She didn't want to get on her bad side. She could take Henry away from her. The table grew silent again after that.

"What happened to my mother?" Regina couldn't help but ask. She had wondered since Emma and Snow came up through the well. She didn't think it was possible for anyone to beat Cora.

"To be honest I'm not too sure." Emma rubbed her chest absent-mindedly as she thought about what happened. Regina's eyes widened at the action.

"What happened?" She asked almost desperately.

"She...she tried to take my heart." Emma's movements stopped as she heard Regina gasp. Her green eyes met brown as she finally looked at Regina.

"And you're still here? How?"

"She was about to take Snow's heart. She said she was going to give you what you had wanted the most. Snow White's heart. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't. So I pushed Snow out of the way and her hand was in my chest. I could feel her squeeze my heart and I couldn't move..." Emma was lost in her recollection and Regina listened riveted by the story. She could tell this was hard for the blonde and was surprised she was even telling her this at all.

"She called me foolish. Told me love was-"

"Weakness. Yeah I've heard that before." Regina finished for her. Emma's gaze zeroed in on Regina again. Emma understood a bit more of Regina now. She was raised by Cora. That had to take some strength to make it out of that situation alive and still be able to care for a child so lovingly. She knew Regina had never hurt Henry, at least not on purpose, and she wondered more about Regina's life. How she became who she was. Her thoughts were drifting until Regina cleared her throat to bring her back to the story.

"How did she not take you're heart?"

"She tried. She tried a few times. But when she went to pull it out it met some sort of barrier. She couldn't pull it out of my chest and then I told her love was strength not weakness and this sort of shockwave just came out of me and pushed her to who knows where." Emma shrugged, "she was gone. I don't know what happened to her."

Regina couldn't say anything. She was shocked. Someone actually beat her mother. It was unheard of. Even Regina couldn't kill her when her powers were at her best, but maybe that had to do more with her being her mother. She could never bring herself to truly hurt her. That's why she had Hook do it. She knew Emma had magic. She felt it when she grabbed her arm and it started the portal, but Emma must be extremely powerful for her to do that with no training at all.

"I don't really care what happened to her. Your mom's pretty much a bitch, and not like you, you're just a bitch. But your mom is like one crazy, psycho, evil bitch that you do not want to have ever met." Regina couldn't help it. She laughed. In a round about way Emma Swan had told her she wasn't like her mother. Of all the people to put her fears at rest it could only be Emma Swan.

Emma was surprised at the laughing at first but then realized what she had said and couldn't help joining in too. Some people stared at the two. It was strange. The Evil Queen and the Savior laughing together. No one could have predicted that.

* * *

Charming opened the door to their apartment and Emma let out a sigh of relief. She was actually home. Home. She had never thought of any place as home before. But this apartment with Mary Margaret, or Snow as she called her now, was home. She could feel it. That place you went to when you needed to feel safe and comfortable.

She took a look around the place and noticed that it wasn't as nice and neat as it usually was. You could tell that someone else had stayed there in their absence. It seemed those people were James and Henry. They looked comfortable here too and catching Snow's eye she could tell that Snow felt the same way as her.

"I don't know about you but a nice shower and a bed sounds amazing right about now." Snow let out a small laugh.

"You read my mind." She agreed and they both made their way towards their rooms. "And Charming you're cleaning this place up. Don't think I didn't notice the mess you two have made. Have you not heard of a laundry basket?" Emma laughed as she made her way up the stairs. She could hear them starting to banter back and forth as she went into her room to grab some fresh clothes. She could get used to this. She had never had it before but it felt an awful lot like family.

* * *

Her shower felt like heaven and she had to have spent at least an hour in their getting all the dirt and grime out of her hair. By the time she was ready for bed she was dead on her feet. She was exhausted. It had been a long day.

"Hey, kid!" She yelled as she threw herself onto her bed. The house was already quiet but she didn't care if she woke anyone else up. She heard the pitter-patter of little feet make their way up the stairs.

"Yeah, mom?" Henry peeked his head into the door.

"Come here." He made his way over to the side of the bed. She quickly grabbed his wrist and yanked him into the bed with her. He gave an undignified yelp that made Emma laugh and soon Henry joined in as well. He snuggled into her side as she wrapped her arms around him. Luckily, he was already in his pajamas.

She heard her door open and saw James peek in. She gave him a smile, which he returned. He opened the door wider and she could see Snow there as well. She was clean and looked refreshed.

"Well, we're off to bed. Just wanted to wish you both goodnight."

"Night." Emma mumbled awkwardly. She had never really been wished goodnight before and didn't know what to do. Snow seemed to pick up on this as she normally did and quickly came into the room. She pulled the blankets up around her and Henry.

"Goodnight." She leaned in and gave Henry a kiss on the forehead. Emma really wasn't expecting it and she saw Snow hesitate for a second before she leaned over and gave her a kiss too. She couldn't help the light blush that tinted her cheeks at the gesture. She knew she was a grown woman but the small gesture warmed her inside and out.

Snow stepped back and James surprised her by doing the same just more quickly. She could tell he was trying to make it less awkward for her by being fast and this warmed her also. So this is what it felt like to be tucked into bed by your parents.

"You need anything you let us know. Ok?" He told her and she gave him a smile as she nodded.

"All right. Good night you two. And no staying up late talking. You've both had a long day and need your rest." Emma rolled her eyes at Snow as her parents made their way out of the room.

"Yeah, yeah, got it, mom." she said it as a joke but once it left her lips she realized how true it was. Snow beamed at her and Emma didn't think her smile could get any bigger. That was the first time she had referred to Snow as her mother. James put an arm around Snow guiding her the rest of the way out because she was in a little stupor.

"Night you two." James closed the door behind them. Emma let out a breath and pulled Henry closer.

"You better not kick me or steal the blankets. Got it, kid?" She teased him to diffuse the emotions that seemed to be running rampant inside of her from being tucked in by her parents. She had parents now. The thought was still strange to her.

"Yeah, yeah, got it, mom." He used her own words against her except he knew what he was doing. She laughed and tugged on his hair affectionately.

"Hey, don't get smart with me or I'll steal all the blankets."

"Ah, mom. Come on." She chuckled at his whining and they settled back down. Their exhaustion finally taking them down. Emma was almost asleep when she heard his soft voice whisper.

"I really missed you."

"I missed you too. More than you can imagine, kid." He laid his head on her shoulder and she felt him tighten his grip around her. "I will always protect you Henry. I'll always be here for you. Even if something separates us I'll always find you."

She could feel the wetness on her shoulder and knew he was crying. She wondered how long he had held that in. If he had cried at all while she was gone or if he was trying to stay strong like she usually did. She stroked his hair soothingly and kissed the crown of his head.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too, mom." She didn't think she would ever tire of hearing those words.

"Now go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." She felt his grip loosen a tiny bit and knew that he was allowing himself to relax completely at her statement. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep as she noted his even breathing and heavy breaths.

She stayed awake a little while longer just watching him sleep peacefully until sleep overtook her as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: nothing's mine. **

* * *

Emma was woken up by the movements of something on her bed. She slowly opened her eyes trying to make out the figure next to her. She finally realized it was Henry trying to get out of her grasp without waking her. She figured she could have a little fun with this.

She closed her eyes and pulled him closer to her causing him to fall back onto the bed with an 'oomph'. She could tell he was staring at her trying to decide if she was really sleeping or not. Smart kid. She couldn't help the upturn of one side of her lips that he caught right away.

"Mo-om!" He drew it out into a whine. "How long have you been awake?" He asked without moving from her hold. She smiled as she looked at him.

"As long as you've been trying to get out of bed." He grumbled something along the lines of 'I've been trying for a half hour. Thanks!' She laughed at him as she pushed him so he could finally get up.

"What time is it anyway?"

"9:30"

"Oh shi-shoot! We have to get you to school kid. You're moms going to kill me and then my moms going to kill me. One day back and I'm already making you miss school." She jumped out of bed scrambling around as he watched her without moving. She was hopping around with one leg in her pants when she noticed he wasn't moving to get ready.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you getting ready? Did I not mention two people are going to try to kill me now?" He shrugged.

"It's Saturday." He grinned as he rushed out of the door before she could do anything to him.

"Henry! You could have mentioned that before I started getting ready. I could have hurt myself." She yelled as she finished putting her jeans on and followed him downstairs. She could hear his laughter. It made her smile despite being rushed out of bed for no reason.

By the time she got down there he was starting to serve himself some cereal. She gave him a mock glare to which he just smiled cheekily back at her. She was a bad influence on him. She went to grab a mug to get some much needed coffee.

"What's all the yelling about?" James came into the kitchen.

"Oh nothing. Nothing at all." She glared again at Henry who smiled with his spoon in his mouth. James chuckled. He grabbed a mug too to get some coffee.

"How did you sleep?" He asked her. She still felt a little weird thinking about him as her dad, so for now she was going to start with friend and see where it went. Friends ask how you slept, right?

"Really good. Henry didn't take too much of the blankets." She smiled crookedly and could see Henry out of the corner of her eye about to protest.

"At least I'm not a bed hog. I nearly fell off the bed twice because of you."

"Is that right? I don't believe you." She sat down across from him and stared him down. "Definitely lying."

"I hate your superpower." He mumbled and she smirked as she won that argument. She knew she wasn't a bed hog.

"That's not the only superpower she has." Snow looked rested as she made her way into the kitchen. Emma winced as she remembered she did have other powers. She was trying really hard not to think about it. She had enough things going on without throwing magic powers on top of it.

"What kind of powers?" Henry asked curious now. She really didn't want to have this conversation.

"We're really not sure." Snow answered for her.

"Gold said something about true love." Emma waved her hand as if it was nothing. Both Snow and Charming looked at her.

"When did you talk to Rumpelstiltskin?" James asked.

"Yesterday. When you guys were making out." She gave them both a look to tell them she did not appreciate having to watch her parents make out in front of her. It came out like a grimace. They both blushed and Henry giggled. She winked at him.

"What did he say?" James cleared his throat trying to redirect their conversation.

"Something about me being the product of true love. He did say I was in control of it. No one is controlling me. It all comes from me."

"Well that's a relief." Snow said as she sat down.

"Yeah. Sure." She wasn't so sure about that. She really didn't think she had control of anything, which means she could be dangerous. She didn't want to put Henry in danger if she lost control of her magic powers somehow.

"You have magic?" Henry asked excitedly. Then he thought about it. "Not like my mom, right?"

"Of course not. If it's the product of true love. It's completely white magic. It's not bad." Snow quickly put them at ease with that knowledge.

"This is so cool! What can you do?" Henry was back to being excited again. He was hopping out of his chair with excitement.

"I can't do anything. It was just a fluke. It just happened because we were in immediate danger. Like a defense mechanism." Emma tried to downplay it. She did not want to have magic. Henry didn't look like he believed her, so he looked to Snow for confirmation.

"Emma..." Snow sighed.

"No. Don't Emma me. It was completely a fluke and you know it. I have no idea how I even did...whatever it is that I did." Snow gave her a look that said she was being ridiculous.

"Emma it's not a bad thing if you have magic. It's light magic too. I'm sure the Blue Fairy won't mind teaching you a few things if you want to learn." James was trying to make her feel better but it did not work at all.

"Nope. That won't be necessary. I'm sure it was a one time thing." Emma started to rise from her seat not wanting to talk about this anymore. Snow grabbed her hand stopping her.

"I'm sure it was, but wouldn't you feel better knowing that for sure. They could just do a test to check and see where you're at." Snow definitely knew how to get to her. She took a breath.

"All right." They all smiled at her. "But not today. Today we are having some fun. You with me, kid?"

"Yeah! We can go to the stables and I can show you my horse!" He scrambled out of the kitchen and up the stairs to get ready. She watched him with a smile. Just what she needed.

"He's getting really good with him." James brought her attention back to them. "He hasn't really gotten too much experience riding on him, but Henry's really good with him."

"I'm sure he is. He's been talking about it non-stop since we got back." She sat down again at the table. It got a little quiet until James spoke up softly.

"If you want I could teach you how to ride too." Emma's eyes widened.

"Ummm...like me up on a horse?" At her obvious fear Snow snorted into her mug and James chuckled. Emma narrowed her eyes at Snow.

"Yeah. Like you up on a horse." He saw her scrunch up her nose in distaste so he quickly continued, "not at first of course. You have to get to know your horse first. Build a relationship with him and then you get to ride him."

"You should try it Emma. It's really fun. I used to go riding all the time. It was one of the only ways to get out of the castle when I was young." Emma liked hearing about Snow's past. Well who didn't like hearing about the real story of Snow freaking White. She was way more badass than the Disney version.

"There's this horse at the stables that would be perfect for you." James continued.

"Ok, how about after I see how it is with Henry we'll talk about it."

"Fair enough." He agreed. By that time Henry was bounding down the stairs again.

"Come on, let's go!" He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out the door.

"I guess we'll see you guys later." She called over shoulder.

"Bye grandma and gramps!" Henry called back.

"Have fun!" They called out together. She threw them a smile and her and Henry were out the door.

* * *

Emma watched as Henry was brushing his horse. She stayed out of its reach preferring to just watch as he worked. Henry chattered the whole time. It seemed she had missed a lot while in the Enchanted Forest or Henry just missed talking to her.

Henry really was a natural with his horse. They looked like they had bonded and were fast friends. Every once in a while she would hear him talk to the horse as he stroked his hair. She looked around the stables taking everything in. She didn't even know Storybrooke had stables.

"Hey Henry I wanted to talk to you about your mom." She brought up when he had stopped talking for a moment.

"What about her?" He asked cautiously.

"Well..." How did she put this? "Do you still want to live with her?" Blunt seemed like the best way. She wanted to talk about living arrangements first because she knew Snow's apartment really wasn't big enough for all four of them. Henry turned to look at her.

"I don't know..." He shrugged as he turned back to his horse. She could tell their was something he wasn't telling her.

"You know it's ok to miss your mom, right?" His shoulders slumped. She guessed right.

"But she's the evil queen." He tried to argue.

"And she's your mom. Weren't you the one that was telling me how she's good now?" She didn't like Regina but she was his mom. She knew he thought about her. Worried about her. Wanted her to be good so that it would prove that she loved him. He needed her love as much as Regina needed him. She saw it enough growing up in the system that she recognized it easily here. So she put her feelings aside and just focused on Henry's.

"Yeah, but what if she's faking. She almost killed you." He looked at her in obvious distress. Sometimes she forgot he was only 10 years old because he was so smart. But right now he looked so small and fragile.

"She didn't though. She believed you. Trusted you. Right?" Emma walked into the stall and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her with sad eyes.

"It's ok if you want to live with her. That was your home your whole life. And your mom does love you. I am proof of that. If she didn't love you I wouldn't be here. But she does, so she believed you and I'm here. So anytime you forget just look at me and you'll remember, ok?" He nodded and buried his head in her stomach like he always did when he was scared and needed to feel safe. He had been doing it since they first met.

"Why are you defending her?" He stayed in her arms but looked up at her as he asked his question.

"I'm not. I'm just telling you the facts and letting you decide. I honestly don't know if I trust her. But if there is one thing I know for sure it's that she would never purposely hurt you Henry. She cares about you so much that she would do anything to protect you."

This was extremely hard for Emma to admit, but she knew it was true. Regina would do anything to protect Henry. She had seen her when they both thought Henry had died. She remembered her face when Henry was stuck in the mines. Regina cared deeply for Henry and would protect him with her life. And obviously Henry cared about her. Emma cared about Henry so therefore she had to work out something with Regina.

"But who will protect me from her? She protects me from everyone else, but what if she becomes the evil queen again?" He was too smart.

"That's what I'm here for, remember? I'm the Savior." She puffed out her chest and flexed her arms trying to be impressive. She knew she was being ridiculous but it was worth it when she got a laugh out of him. She brought her hands to his shoulders again squeezing tightly.

"Does that mean you'll live with us too?" That brought her up short.

"What? I never said that!" She took a step back shaking her head. Nope this was not a good idea.

"Please, mom!" He gave her the puppy dog eyes. She felt her resolve crumbling.

"Kid, do you realize what it would be like if me and your mom lived under the same roof. It would be like world war three. Do you really want to be responsible for the world coming to an end?" She fixed him with her stare.

"Now your just being dramatic." He rolled his eyes at her. She had to stop herself from stomping her foot in frustration. She was the adult here. She settled with crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"I am not. Just predicting what might happen if we were to live in the same house."

"But it'll be so much fun! I'll have both of my moms living with me. We'll be like a family." Now she just looked at him funny. She never thought she would hear her and Regina in the same sentence as family. And then it was said as if it were a good thing.

"I bet she could even teach you about your magic." At that comment she just raised an eyebrow at him. "Ok, maybe that one wasn't such a good idea but everything else that I said was." He grinned up at her hopefully and she let out a breath as she rubbed her face.

"Ok, let's say I agree. We still have to convince your mom and Snow. And just to let you know the odds of them both agreeing is pretty slim, kid." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Hey, if I got you to agree I'm sure I can get them to agree too." He was way to confident for her liking.

"I never said I agreed." Now he raised an eyebrow at her and it was scary how much he resembled Regina in that moment. It was as if he was saying 'lets not kid ourselves. I had you from the beginning'.

She narrowed her eyes and made her way out of the stall so he could finish with his horse. She grumbled under her breath something that sounded like 'too smart' and 'just like Regina'. He grinned and lost himself in the rhythm of brushing his horse again as Emma watched. He was having a great day.

* * *

Emma could not believe she was doing this. She had no idea how the kid had done it. He actually got Snow to agree to this really horrible, awful, disastrous plan. She thought her parents would have backed her up at least a little bit, but no. They thought it was a great idea. Okay, maybe not great but it didn't take as long to wear them down as Emma thought it would.

They even threw in that I would be doing the town a favor by watching over Regina. Making sure she stayed in line. What about her? Who was going to save her from Regina's wrath? But they agreed it was best for Henry so here she was knocking on the former mayors house with Henry grinning like a fool beside her.

This was her last hope. There was no way Regina would agree to this. She was betting on it and that's why she was here. This wasn't really going to happen. She wasn't going to be living with Regina Mills and raising their kid together. It just wasn't right. She was the evil queen for crying out loud.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening to reveal an immaculately dressed Regina. Not even a hair out of place. It was unnerving how she was always put together.

"Hey mom!" Henry went in for a hug. Regina looked caught off guard but hugged him back with a small smile on her face.

"Henry. I wasn't expecting to see you today." Regina looked up at Emma who was looking anywhere but at her. That was suspicious. Emma never avoided her stare unless she had something to hide.

"Ms. Swan, to what do owe this pleasure?" She said this with her usual snarky tone. Emma just shrugged.

"Just in the neighborhood. Thought we would come and say hi. Have a tea party. You know the usual." Regina smiled at the sarcasm. She would never admit that she missed the blonde's attitude. Never.

"Won't you come in then?" Regina stepped aside allowing Emma entrance. The place looked the same as always. Everything impeccably clean and put together just like the mayor. Emma wondered what it would look like after she lived here for a little while. She was sure she could make it a little more messy just to annoy the former mayor.

"Something funny, Ms. Swan." She hadn't realized she was smiling. She looked over at Regina catching her gaze for the first time.

"Just thought of something funny is all." Regina brought them to the living room to sit down.

"So what's the real reason your here?" And there's the Regina she remembers. Always cuts to the chase. Emma looked at Henry but now that they were here he seemed to clam up. He met her gaze and she read the pleading look in his eyes clearly. He would make her do this for him. Snow and Charming he could deal with. But the evil queen. Nope. That was her job? Everyone just expected her to be able to handle Regina. Where did they get these ideas from?

Regina looked between the two waiting for something. Anything. But was left waiting as her son and Emma were having a silent conversation. She was trying really hard to be patient, so bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from snapping at them. Emma finally sighed and looked over at her.

"Henry wants to live with you." Emma was always direct. Regina's mouth dropped open in surprise. She was most definitely not expecting that. She looked at Henry to confirm Emma's statement and he nodded shyly.

"Henry you're always welcome to live here. It will always be open to you. You never have to ask." You could hear the sincerity in Regina's words and Henry rewarded her with a big grin.

"Thanks mom." Emma watched the genuine look of happiness on Regina's face and knew she was about to ruin it. Oh well, time to bite the bullet.

"There is one condition though." Regina's attention came back to Emma now and Regina's eyes narrowed.

"Of course there is." She snapped at her. Emma put up her hands in obvious surrender.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea." Emma looked at Henry. "Trust me on that one." She mumbled after and Regina was just able to make it out. Emma elbowed Henry to tell him it was his turn to get talking. He took a deep breath gathering his courage.

"Iwantemmatolivewithus." Regina and Emma both stared at him confused. Then Emma burst out laughing at him and he glared at her.

"Try slower, kid." Her laugh turned into a snicker. Regina was openly glaring at her too now for laughing at Henry, but Emma could detect a hint of amusement.

"I would like it if Emma could live with us too, please." Both of Regina's eyebrows shot up.

"Told you it wasn't my idea." Emma smirked at her obviously expecting her reaction. Regina scowled and schooled her features.

"Yes, I can see that now Ms. Swan." She focused her attention on Henry again. "This is the one condition for you to live with me again, Henry?" She asked gently. She knew this was a big step. It said that he was trying his best to trust her and he did, but he needed a safety net, which was Emma.

"Yes." He nodded and sat up straighter. She was so proud of him. Even in this he stood his ground.

"Ok." She conceded quickly.

"What?!" Emma spluttered and they both turned their attention to her. Henry just smiled smugly and Regina couldn't help mirroring her son. "You can't be serious? You're going to let me move in here? With you? Under the same roof? Seeing me everyday? Think about it Regina. It's going to be hell."

Emma was leaning so far off the couch towards Regina she was about to fall off. This was not going at all like she thought. Regina didn't even argue at all.

"Well, if you can't handle it Ms. Swan I'm sure we can find a tent for you to sleep in outside. I'm sure it'll be more comfortable than the Enchanted Forest." Emma narrowed her eyes. Challenge accepted.

"Fine, but remember I warned you. Both of you." She gave them both a withering glare and stood up to leave. Henry and Regina shared a smile as they heard the blonde grumble the whole way to the door.

"A little dramatic, isn't she?" Regina spoke aloud.

"That's what I said." Henry agreed as he stood up. "I should probably catch up with her. I don't know when we'll move in, but we'll call when we're ready."

"It's no problem, dear. Come whenever you're ready." She smoothed his hair down. "I'll get one of the guest rooms ready for our new housemate."

"Thanks mom." He gave her a hug and she returned it still not used to his affection after going so long without it.

"You're welcome. I love you, Henry." She kissed the top of his head.

"I love you too." He let go of her and they made their way to the door. They saw Emma waiting by the gate still grumbling. Henry smiled up at her and she couldn't help but return it. "I'll see you soon. This is going to be so much fun!"

She chuckled at her sons enthusiasm but couldn't help but think they had completely different definitions of fun. This was going to be extremely difficult. A real challenge and she hoped she didn't disappoint him.

She watches as Henry runs over to Emma and she got his neck in a gentle choke hold as he said something to her. No doubt rubbing it in her face that she was going to have to live with the evil queen. She shakes her head and wonders how she's going to survive this. At least she'll have Henry back.

The blonde looks up then and meets her gaze. It seems they come to an understanding with that one look. They will do this because its what's best for Henry. He needs both of them. Emma nods and keeps an arm over Henry's shoulder as they walk away together.

Regina takes a deep breath and goes to her new task. At least she won't be so alone anymore and she doesn't think she will ever be bored again. Not with those two living here. This is going to be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: nothing's mine. **

* * *

Emma could not believe she got roped into this now. She specifically remembered saying this morning that she wanted to have fun today. That was it. Just fun. It started out good at the stables and then everything went to hell. First, she had to go see Regina, and she groaned internally at the thought of the outcome of that meeting. Pushing that aside she now found herself sitting in town hall for a town meeting.

She hated town meetings. They were as boring as those lovely budget meetings she used to have to go to with Regina before the whole curse thing broke. It seemed the townspeople called a meeting wanting to know what Fairytale Land was like. How it had fared these past 28 years and if they could get back there.

She really didn't see why she had to be here, but Snow and Charming had insisted saying that it was expected of her. That was shit. She was no princess, which is what they were implying. She could be sheriff, sure, but a princess no thank you. In the end, Henry was the one that got her to go saying that they could point out who all the fairytale characters were. She indulged him like she usually did, but she really knew she had no choice. She had to go.

So now she was sitting here next to Snow and Charming like they were in a throne room and everyone was paying them court. She hated it. She at least convinced them to let Henry sit next to her since technically he was a part of the "Royal Family" too. The kid was having the time of his life. She did enjoy him pointing out to her who everyone really was. It was kind of fun hearing his commentary and how they changed once the curse broke.

She knew later she would have to tell him who she met in Fairytale Land. He would probably freak out when she mentioned Captain Hook and Lancelot. She would leave Cora out of course. He already knew about her and there was no need to bring her up again. Regina would probably get pissed at her if she did.

Charming gave them a look and she realized the meeting was starting. So she did what she normally did during town meetings and zoned out. She pretended to listen as Snow told them in the kindest way that she could that Fairytale Land was pretty much in ruin. Emma did like watching Snow being all regal and authoritative. It was just another side that Mary Margaret didn't show. Emma could also tell that the crowd loved her. She was their beloved Queen.

It wasn't long before someone in the crowd mentioned Regina. Emma sat up straighter and knew it was time to listen. She figured this would come up. After all no one had really punished her for her crimes. She gave a reassuring glance to Henry and he gave her a shaky smile in return.

"Regina is paying for her crimes. First off, she helped Emma and I get back home." Snow said placatingly. People still weren't happy with that answer, but Snow wasn't done. "She saved us and I know that doesn't take back everything that she's done but that's just one thing."

"What else has she done then?" Someone yelled from the back. Emma couldn't see who it was.

"She is also seeing Dr. Hopper and he's helping her work through her issues. She helped protect all of us from Cora coming into this world." There were murmurings at the mention of Cora.

"She still needs to pay for what she did to us!"

"Who's to say she isn't plotting against us now, something needs to be done!"

"She needs to be locked away!"

"Stripped of her powers!"

"She took away our happy endings!" This was getting out of hand now. She knew something needed to be done and with Henry squeezing her hand she rose to her feet.

"Enough!" She shouted and the room quieted instantly. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin as she looked through the crowd.

"All of you want her to pay for what she's done?" She asked them and the crowd nodded and some shouted their agreement.

"She should pay for what she's done? She took away your happy endings?" The crowd was really going now that they thought she was agreeing with them. Her family all just looked confused and wondered what she was up to.

"Who's going to do it? Huh? Who's going to stop her?" The crowd instantly quieted again as they thought about this. She had them right where she wanted them. No one wanted to be the one to actually go after the evil queen. They all wanted someone else to do it.

"No one? Interesting...you're all so eager to crucify her as long as you aren't the one to do it. Is that right?"

"We could all attack her together. She's only one person!"

"You forget she has magic. She could take all of us out easily with a flick of her wrist." The crowd got quiet as some gasped in fright.

"You're the savior! You should be able to stop her!" She wished she could see who shouted that one.

"I believe the 'savior' as you put was supposed to break the curse. I don't remember reading about the 'savior' having to kill the evil queen. Henry, what did your book say?" She turned to Henry and gave him a wink. He grinned at her.

"It says that the savior will break the curse and return all the happy endings. She would save us all." He said it clearly and it rang throughout the whole room. It was quiet again.

"Seems like my job is done." She shrugged and started walking back to her seat.

"But you're the Sheriff! You have to protect us."

"And she is." Snow finally took her spot at the center of the stage again giving Emma a proud smile. She turned to the crowd. "She is going to be living with Regina and keeping her under 24 hour surveillance. Making sure that she is actually redeeming herself. Regina will be researching a way to bring us all home to the Enchanted Forest and will continue her sessions with Dr. Hopper."

Emma wasn't sure all of that was true. No way in hell was she watching Regina 24 hours a day and she was pretty sure Regina hadn't agreed to finding a way back to Fairytale Land either. Oh well, whatever got this crowd to calm down.

"We also need to consider that Cora is in the Enchanted Forest and we need a plan to deal with her before we go back there." Everyone agreed with that statement.

"We need to remember that we are the good guys and getting revenge won't help anyone. It won't change anything. I know more than most what Regina has done to us. But what's done is done and we need to move forward. We need to forgive and only then can we heal. If we seek revenge we are no better than her. We will have our happy endings again and we can get them together."

Snow's little speech seemed to inspire the crowd and everyone liked that Emma was going to be watching Regina. After that they just discussed ways that they might be able to get back home so Emma sat with Henry again and he quickly squeezed her hand in thanks. She smiled over at him and squeezed his hand back. The town meeting wasn't as boring as they usually were, that's for sure.

* * *

It was the next day and they were already moving into Regina Mills home. Former mayor of Storybrooke and former evil queen. She didn't even get a breather because the town wanted her to move in as soon as possible to keep an eye on the mayor. This was going to be fun. She was able to pack all of her stuff into five boxes. She was happy to say that since her stay in Storybrooke she had added another box.

"Are you sure about this?" Snow asked as she helped carry the boxes to the car with her. James and Henry were behind them carrying the other ones.

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now? Or do I need to remind you that you agreed to this too? You let that little runt talk you into this." Emma nodded in Henry's direction.

"Hey!" Henry called from behind them but Emma only laughed at him. Snow couldn't help but smile but then she turned serious again.

"I know but she's Regina. What if she tries to hurt you? I mean you're my daughter it would be the best way to hurt me. She's separated us before." Emma sighed.

"That's not going to happen. As much as it pains me to say, Regina is actually trying. She won't hurt me because she knows how much that would hurt Henry and he would never forgive her for something like that." Emma put a hand on Snow's shoulder trying to reassure her.

"She's right grandma." Henry piped up from right next to them. "She's changing I can tell. And trust me I've known her my whole life so I know when she's faking." He sounded so serious and Emma could only grin down at him proudly.

"All right, but any trouble and you two are back over here for good. Got it?" They both rolled their eyes and Snow couldn't help but smile at how similar they looked at that moment.

"Yeah, yeah, we got it. Now can we get going? I am just dying to ruin Regina's day by moving in with her." Emma smiled wickedly at Henry.

"Mom! You promised you'd be nice."

"I made no such promises." Emma ruffled his hair as he pouted. "Now come on kid, lets get a move on. We're burning daylight."

"Just be careful and call if you need anything." Snow bit her lip in concern and that's when James came up and wrapped an arm around her waist. She just melted into him and it always made Emma feel uncomfortable watching them. They were so in love.

"They'll be fine. Regina really is trying otherwise she wouldn't even have agreed to let Emma move in with her." Snow nodded at his words and smiled at them. She moved from his embrace and gave Emma and then Henry a hug. Charming quickly followed suit and even added a kiss to her temple. Emma stiffened but didn't say anything. Eventually she'd get used to this family stuff. At least she hoped so.

She walked over to the other side of her bug. She missed her car or just cars in general. Walking everywhere in forests and beanstalks got tiring after a while. "We'll see you guys later! We'll do dinner or lunch or something this week, ok?"

"Sounds great! See you!" Snow and Charming smiled and waved them off. They watched until the car turned a corner and they couldn't see it anymore.

"I hope this works out for the best." Snow leaned into his embrace as he brought his arm around her waist again.

"You know what the Blue Fairy said." He squeezed her waist tighter.

"Why does it always have to be her? Hasn't she been through enough?" Snow whispered as she buried her face in his chest.

"You remember what Henry said at the meeting last night?" Charming asked her.

"She will bring back the happy endings and save us all." Snow replied.

"Exactly. The Blue Fairy said the reason we weren't back in the Enchanted Forest was because she wasn't finished with her job yet. She hasn't brought back all the happy endings. She hasn't saved _all _of us yet." Snow sighed.

"The Blue Fairy better be right. Or else I'm going to show her my happy ending and it won't be so happy for her." He chuckled.

"And there's the Snow we all know and love." She smirked at him.

"Come on. We have the apartment all to ourselves. No kids or grandkids." She smiled mischievously as she took his hand and they raced back up to the apartment locking the door behind them.

* * *

Henry and Emma walked up to the house carrying her boxes. When they got to the door Emma just kicked the door to knock since her hands were full. Henry gave her a look but she just smirked and shrugged. That's when Regina opened the door looking annoyed.

"We should really get me a key since I'll be living here now and everything." Emma walked in not even waiting to be invited and Henry followed in behind her.

"Hi mom!" Henry smiled at her distracting her from Emma before they could start fighting.

"Hello Henry, I wasn't expecting you so soon." Regina looked between the two.

"Yeah, funny story. We had a town meeting yesterday and the towns people wanted to punish you for cursing them so we kinda spun it in a way where I am now living here to make sure you stay in line." Emma shrugged as she explained and Regina rose one eyebrow.

"Yeah Emma pretty much scared them out of attacking you and then they wanted her to move in here as soon as possible to make sure you weren't plotting anything evil." He laughed as if the idea was absurd.

"So that's why we're here so soon." Emma finished the story. Regina was actually a little impressed that Emma would come up with something like that. Scaring the townspeople into thinking she was doing this for them even though she was already going to move in. Very clever. Probably something she herself would have come up with.

"Well, in that case why don't I show you where you'll be staying while you keep your watch on me." Regina led the way up the stairs and Emma and Henry shared a look as they followed.

* * *

Emma just finished putting everything away in her new room. It was the biggest and nicest room she had ever had in her entire life. And she was pretty sure it was the smallest in the house. No way Regina would give her the best guest room. Why did she need so many rooms anyway? It was just her and Henry. Emma pushed the thought away as she made her way into the kitchen where Henry was working on some homework and Regina was cooking dinner.

"Hey kid, need any help?" She ruffled his hair as she sat next to him to see what he was working on. He smiled at her.

"Not yet, but can you look over this paper when I'm done."

"Yeah, sure." She nodded in agreement. Now that she was done with her room she really didn't know what else to do. Henry was doing his homework. Regina was ignoring her while making dinner. Maybe she would take a look around. See where everything was. She got up again.

"Where are you going?" Henry asked her.

"Just thought I'd take a look around. You know since I'm going to be here for a while." She shrugged and made her way towards the living room.

"Ms. Swan just because you live here now doesn't mean you can snoop around wherever you want."

"Gee, thanks for making me feel so welcome Regina. And it's not like I was going to go look through your bedroom or anything I just wanted to see where everything was, like the laundry room. Unless you're going to be doing my laundry for me." Regina narrowed her eyes as Emma smirked.

"I most certainly will not be doing your laundry Ms. Swan." Regina rounded on her and placed one hand on her hip while the other waved a spatula at her threateningly. "Maybe we should set some ground rules."

Emma groaned, "rules already. Can't we wait until after dinner."

"No, now is as good a time as any." Regina continued ignoring Emma's protests. "First off, I won't be picking up after you. You are no longer a child no matter how much you continue to act like one." Emma was about to interrupt but Regina spoke over her. "Second, you will never go snooping in my bedroom or bathroom or in anything else that doesn't concern you."

"Haven't you already locked away anything that I could possible find incriminating for you?" Emma mocked as she crossed her arms over her chest. Regina raised an eyebrow but didn't deny it. "That rule goes to you too. No snooping in my things either."

Regina laughed and it set Emma's blood boiling. "Like you would have anything I would want to see anyway."

"Ok anything else?" Emma wanted to get out of this room now. It felt suffocating.

"Anything else we can discuss as it comes up. If you dirty anything in your tour of the house you will clean it up." Regina reiterated.

"I'm not going to dirty anything. I promise." Emma rolled her eyes and turned to walk out of the kitchen. "By the way, dinner smells great." She smirked over her shoulder as Regina turned back to the stove to continue cooking.

It was maybe two minutes later when Regina and Henry both jumped at the sound of something crashing.

"Whoops! Hey Regina that vase in the foyer wasn't important was it?" Emma yelled. Henry watched as Regina's shoulders tensed and knew this was not going to be pretty.

"Ms. Swan!" Henry winced from his spot at the table and Regina bolted out of the kitchen. Henry had never seen her move so fast. It was almost like she was looking forward to this fight. He shook his head and went back to his homework as he heard his moms start arguing. "And so it begins." He murmured to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: nothing's mine. **

* * *

Emma laid in bed after a long day, her first day, living in the Mills Mansion. Emma let out a long breath and snuggled deeper into the blankets of her new bed. It was so soft and she was exhausted. After the whole vase incident, which she swore was an accident, the night had been pretty much uneventful. The vase. That was strange. She thought back to what happened as her and Regina started arguing.

_"It was an accident!" Emma nearly shouted at Regina who was blowing this well out of proportions._

_"I doubt that! You obviously don't care or respect me or my house!" Regina shouted back._

_"Of course I don't! You don't respect me!" Emma turned toward the vase, "Can't you just zap it back together anyway? What's the big deal?"_

_"Z-zap it back together?!" Regina spluttered and Emma couldn't help but smile on the inside at shocking Regina. She never thought she would tire of catching her off guard even if it was only for a second. "In case Henry hasn't told you I don't do magic anymore."_

_Regina gritted her teeth because she really wished she could use magic right now and flay this insufferable woman in front of her. Just zap it she says. Unbelievable. After everything she's been trying to accomplish she wants her to just use her magic to fix an insignificant vase. It was very tempting just to flick her wrist and vanish this woman from her sight. Now that would be a good use of her magic. If only Henry wouldn't hate her for it. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose._

_"I think Henry was thinking more along the lines of not ripping anyone's heart out. I don't think he would mind if you fixed an ugly vase." She felt more than heard Regina growl in response to what she said._

_"It doesn't work that way Miss Swan. I don't do magic period." She reiterated and Emma seemed to get it then. Emma understood. She was cutting it off cold turkey. Like an addiction. "So no hand waving at all?" She asked as she waved her own hand in the direction of the vase. To both of their astonishment the vase came back together and righted itself on the table._

_Emma stepped back while she looked at her hands. "Please tell me that was you." Regina looked at Emma with her mouth hanging open. She saw the terrified expression on the blondes face and felt a twinge of sympathy as she heard the desperation in Emma's voice. Brown eyes met green and Regina couldn't tear her eyes away. For once she saw behind that stubborn exterior that Emma always put up. That mask that was as good as her own slipped momentarily giving her a rare glimpse of the true Emma Swan._

_"I'm sorry, dear, but I didn't do that." Emma closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened them again Regina saw the mask back on again. For some reason she found herself wishing she could help the younger woman. To comfort her somehow. Who knew better than her what Emma was going through. She herself knew what it felt like to be scared about having magic. About not being able to control it. About its seductive power that made you feel invincible. Emma might not be feeling that power though. She looked like she didn't want anything to do with it._

_"Well it looks like your vase is fixed now. No problem anymore. I'll be more careful." With that Emma had turned and walked towards the living room to finish her tour of the house. Regina watched her go and then turned to go back to finish making dinner._

Emma still couldn't believe she had done it. She stared down at her hands and couldn't see anything different than what they normally looked like. She still had her calloused fingers,her scar on her right pointer finger, they all looked the same to her. But then again they weren't. She could feel the difference. It was something that she could feel right underneath the surface. She hoped it went away. She didn't want it. She shook her hands out as if that would dispel the magic. She had enough problems as it was. One being the person that was roomed down the hallway.

Emma was surprised Regina didn't bring up the vase thing at dinner. Dinner had been a quiet affair. She had been lost in her thoughts most of the time not offering too much conversation. She had tried more towards the end because she noticed that Regina and Henry were still awkward together. They didn't really know how to navigate through their new relationship so Emma picked up on that and gave them some dumb jokes to get their mind off of trying so hard to be normal. That worked a little bit and they relaxed once she had gotten them onto some familiar territory. Emma saw that they both had the same eye roll too. By the time Henry was in bed and she was telling him a bedtime story everything seemed like old times. Emma was telling him about the giant and the beanstalk. Regina then came in and yelled at her for getting Henry more excited than sleepy. Just like old times. Henry was smiling as they both kissed him goodnight and Emma gave him a wink as she walked out the door followed closely by Regina.

Now she laid here just thinking. She couldn't stop her mind from racing and found it hard to fall asleep. Nothing unusual for her. But she was exhausted. She looked over at the clock and read that it was 2 am. Just great. She let out a sigh and that's when she heard it. The house had been so quiet you could hear a pin drop so it was hard to miss that sound. It sounded like a whimper and when she got up and opened the door to see what it was she found it was coming from Henry's room. She quickly ran to his room thinking the worst when she collided with something or rather someone.

She looked up to see Regina next to her on the hallway floor. They were both about to start talking when they heard the whimper again. "Henry." They both said at the same time as they got up and rushed to the door together. Once opened they both stopped as they took in the sight of Henry. He was tangled in his sheets and you could see the sheen of sweat on his forehead. Emma also noticed that his hand was a bright red.

"Mommy..." They heard him whimper and it snapped them both back to attention. They looked at each other. Both having the same question in their eyes. "He means you." Emma says to her and looks back at Henry. Regina nods and quickly takes the last remaining steps to Henry's side. She sits down beside him and gently shakes him awake. Henry doesn't wake up though and Emma can feel the panic rising in her chest.

"What's going on? What's happening to him?" Emma sat on the other side. She wanted to grab his hand but it was all red. Regina shot her a glance and she could see the panic that she was sure was in her own eyes.

"He's stuck in that place because of the sleeping spell. Haven't you seen him like this yet? He was having the nightmares every night." Regina was still trying to wake up Henry as she spoke. She looked helpless Emma noted.

"Actually I haven't seem him have any nightmares since I've been back. He slept through the whole night." Emma looked thoughtful, confused and like she was ready for action. She needed to be doing something not just sitting here watching Henry suffer.

"Are you sure?" Regina looked skeptical.

"Yes." Emma nodded. "He doesn't even move in his sleep. It's like he's knocked out." Regina suspected that Emma had actually watched Henry while he slept and she couldn't really blame her. She had done that on occasion.

"Well, what did you do? How come he didn't have nightmares when he was with you?" Regina's face scrunched up thinking and Emma thought about it too.

"I don't know. I was just with him. That's it."

"There must be something Miss Swan." Henry whimpered again and Regina doubled her efforts trying to wake him up but he seemed lost to them. Emma couldn't take it anymore and moved to scoop Henry up into her lap and pulled him close. She was surprised Regina didn't say anything. She just sat close and brushed Henry's hair out of his face. Emma looked at her little boy and started murmuring sweet nothing's into his ear just like she always wished someone had done to her when she had a nightmare. She rocked him gently and could feel a calmness overwhelm her like she always felt when Henry was in her arms. She closed her eyes and kissed his forehead.

"Come on Henry. Wake up, kid." She whispered. Regina watched in awe of how gentle and loving Emma was being. She had never really seen this side of the blonde and it caught her off guard. She watched first hand how Emma seemed to glow and she could feel the magic. The magic that was inexplicably Emma. She could feel it's peacefulness and let out a breath as she felt more than saw Henry calm as well. She watched as he slowly opened his eyes with a questioning look. His eyes met hers immediately and she cradled his face in her hands.

"You're all right now, Henry. Everything's okay now." She told him and he leaned his head into her shoulder seeking her comfort. She held him close and looked up meeting Emma's gaze. She hadn't realized how close she was to Emma now. She could see the exact shade of her green eyes and the little flecks of gold that she had never noticed before. Her gaze was amazingly soft in this moment and for once Regina was glad that she had someone else here. Someone else to share the responsibility. She knew she could do it on her own, but their was something about having someone to fall back on that made it easier. Made her breath easier knowing that if she didn't have the answers she could look to someone else to help. Someone who also had Henry's best interests at heart. It was something she had never had before and it wasn't easy for her to share that responsibility. To trust someone else to take care of Henry. But hasn't Emma already proved capable of that? Hadn't she proven that she would put Henry first and do whatever it took to protect him? She realized in that moment that she was going to have to do this. Trust someone else. It was going to be extremely hard.

"Regina, should we take him to the hospital?" Emma broke the silence and Regina looked down at Henry's hand or arm she should say since the burn was the length of his arm.

"No Miss Swan we can handle this. I have a first aid kit that'll do the trick." Henry sucked in a breath as she inspected his burn. She hated this. She hated seeing him in pain. What she hated most was knowing that she had caused this. It was her fault. Emma was watching closely and winced as she saw how bad it was.

"Are you sure?" Emma asked. "It looks pretty bad."

"Yes, it does. Maybe-" Henry cut her off.

"Couldn't you heal it? Like Mr. Gold did?" Henry looked up at Regina through his lashes and Regina's breath caught in her throat. He looked so little. So small. Just like when he was a little boy.

"Henry, I don't know if that's such a good idea..." Regina started.

"Why don't I give it a shot Henry?" Emma interrupted. She saw Regina hesitate and couldn't help herself from, well helping.

"You can do it?" He asked in surprise.

"Now I know that isn't a good idea Miss Swan." Regina did not want to think about all the ways that could go wrong.

"Fine, how about you show me how and then we can kinda do it together? That way I don't take out an eye or something." Emma grinned when they both rolled their eyes at her. A little bit of the tension was leaving the room just like she hoped.

"All right, Miss Swan." They all situated themselves so that Regina and Emma were on the side that Henry had been burned. "But if you do take out an eye or anything else important know that I will take yours to replace it."

"Got it." Emma held back a shiver at the threat. Emma took a deep breath and tried to focus on how she felt when she had used magic the couple of times that she did.

"Ok Miss Swan. Take deep breaths and just focus your mind on what you want to happen. You have to visualize Henry's skin as it was before, but not just visualize it. Feel it. Make sure to take away the pain as you replace the hurt skin with new skin." Regina's voice was low and soothing and Emma found herself following that voice. Following to where it lead her with no chance to even think about disobeying. She saw and felt what she wanted to happen. Everything down to the last freckle that she knew resided on Henry's wrist. She felt that calm, peacefulness overtake her again and then she felt someone take her hand. Her eyes shot open at the touch. It was like a shock to her system. She watched as Regina took her hand and moved it over Henry's burn carefully. Emma watched in amazement as Henry's arm slowly healed. She wouldn't be able to tell you who had done it. Was it her or Regina? She felt like it was both because she could feel her presence inside of her magic. Could feel the little jolt that wasn't exactly bad, but just different. She was surprised to see how easily Regina guided her magic. As if directing, but she also knew that Regina wasn't doing any magic herself. Weird. Before she knew it Henry's arm was as good as new.

"That was so cool! Thanks moms!" Henry pulled them both into a hug. Emma couldn't help a chuckle at Henry's enthusiasm. "Of course, Henry. Now why don't you try and get some sleep." Regina spoke softly and they both felt him tense.

"Will you stay with me?" He asked them in a small voice. They looked at each other over Henry's head. Emma was nodding as she answered without a second thought, "of course, kid."

"Why doesn't Emma take the first shift and I'll take the next one?" Regina really didn't feel like sharing a bed with Emma. Ever. Even if Henry was in between them. The thought sent a strange feeling through her that she didn't want to think about. Then Henry looked at her with those pleading eyes and she was going to stay strong. She was and then he spoke, "please mom."

"Ok fine. But I'm only staying until you fall asleep." She caught Emma's smirk over Henry's head and narrowed her eyes.

"Don't worry, Regina. I will stay on my side of the bed. I don't have cooties or anything either."

"Maybe not cooties but probably fleas. We're going to have to clean your sheets tomorrow Henry." They were all settling down into Henry's bed. It was small but with Henry snuggling into both of them they somehow fit.

"I don't have fleas." Emma argued back. "Yeah, mom. If she did then I would already have them since we were sharing her bed at grandmas house." Henry tried to defend her.

"Thanks for that great defense, kid." Emma continued before anyone else could get another shot at her. "Why don't we all just go to sleep?"

"Good idea, dear." Emma could hear her smirk even though she couldn't see it in the now dark room. Emma huffed.

"Good night." She kissed Henry's forehead and threw an arm over him. She could feel Regina's body on the other side of him, but decided to just ignore that.

"Good night, Henry." She heard Regina whisper and then a quiet, "night moms." As Henry was already drifting off to sleep again. Emma finally felt herself relax a bit as she felt his breathing even out. She stayed up for a while knowing Regina was still awake, but then couldn't help herself and let the exhaustion finally take her off to sleep.

Regina stayed awake as she felt first Henry and then Emma fall asleep. She could feel that calm, peaceful feeling settle around them again and she knew. She knew this was why Henry hadn't had his nightmares when he was with Emma. Her magic unconsciously protected him. It made Regina smile at how appropriate that was because if Emma did anything right, it was how she always tried to protect Henry from anything and everything.

She was a little jealous of how Emma was able to protect Henry when she couldn't. How it was one more thing the blonde was better than her at. She was learning to control that jealousy now with Dr. Hoppers help. She was also very used to life being unfair. How it was unfair that Emma was able to use magic. How her magic was pure light magic. When she felt it earlier when Emma healed Henry it was all too easy for her to reach out and guide that magic to where it needed to go. She had never felt magic like that. At least not in that way. She thought she felt a glimpse of it when she was with Daniel. True love. She sighed and then really thought about it. Emma's magic was stronger than anything she had ever felt with Daniel. Maybe if they had more time together it could have grown to that. Grown to be strong and good and empowering.

_No_. She shut her eyes tight. She couldn't think like that. What if's didn't help anything. They just made it harder. It turned her bitter and angry. She could already feel the pull to just release that anger right then. Then all of a sudden she felt that calm again. She opened her eyes and she could almost see it. See that soft glow that was moving to engulf her. At one time she would have fought this, but one touch of it earlier and she couldn't help but allow herself to succumb to it. To let that calmness just surround her and for the first time in a long time she felt herself relax and fall easily into a restful sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: nothing's mine. **

**AN: thanks for all the reviews and support! I really appreciate it! Hope you all had a Happy New Year! Also I had some trouble with this chapter, but thought I would post it anyway, so any constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks!**

* * *

Emma felt something moving next to her. She groaned and slung her arm around the kid to keep him in place. "Too early, kid. Go back to sleep."

"Miss Swan, get your hand off of me this instant." At Regina's voice Emma quickly shot up and forgetting how small the bed was, she unceremoniously fell off of it with an 'oomph!' She heard the small giggle that was of course Henry. She slowly lifted her head up as she rubbed her shoulder. Her eyes met Regina's who was already glaring at her. Regina stood up slowly, her eyes never leaving Emma's. Their was a light flush to her face and she had bed hair. Emma was glad to see she wasn't always so put together.

"I...uh...thought you were Henry." Emma smiled sheepishly. Regina just glared and crossed her arms.

"Obviously, dear." They stared each other down. Emma thought hers would be more effective if she was more awake or not on the floor. Either way Regina completely won this round.

"Henry why don't you start getting ready for school." Her eyes never left Emma's as she spoke to Henry. Emma finally broke their gaze and looked over at Henry. His head was peeking out of the covers and he had a sleepy smile on his face. His eyes were bright though and she had a feeling he was so happy because she had made a fool of herself.

"Ok, mom." Regina nodded and gave him a small smile, then one more hard look at Emma before she turned and left the room. Emma finally allowed herself to breath and move again. She stood up and shared a look with Henry. "I blame you for this." She pointed her finger at him.

"What did I do? You were the one that touched her!" He defended himself with a smile.

"Oh, think this is funny, huh?" She moved closer to him threateningly. He tried to scoot away, but she was too fast and pounced on him. She began to tickle him mercilessly. He laughed loudly in response, which made her smile. She loved his laugh. "N-No I was-wasn't laughing a-at you!" He spoke between his laughter.

"Lies!" She roared and he laughed some more. "Ok, ok I give!" He relented and she stopped her attack. She looked down at him with a triumphant grin.

"Smart kid." She ruffled his hair as she let him get up and walked towards the door, "Better think twice the next time you laugh at me." She said in a sing song voice. "And I'm thinking pancakes for breakfast. Sound good?"

"Yeah! With chocolate chips?" She chuckled.

"We'll see what your mom has and then no. You're too hyper as it is." She winked at him as he rolled his eyes.

"Please?" He begged.

"I doubt your mom even has chocolate chips. You know she's a health nut." He huffed dramatically.

"You're right. Just pancakes is good."

"Good. Now get ready. I have a feeling it's going to be a great day in the Mills house."

* * *

Regina heard the laughing from Henry's room as she made her way to her own bedroom. It shot a pang of jealousy and hurt straight to her heart. She wasn't sure if she would ever have that kind of relationship with Henry. The easy, fun-loving kind that seemed to come so easily to Emma.

She went through her regular morning routine. Not really sure what she was getting ready for. She at least had Henry to look after now. That would definitely keep her busy. Maybe she would take him to school today. They could have some time alone without Emma.

She made her way downstairs still lost in her thoughts until she smelled something good coming from the kitchen. Walking closer she could also hear some music being played as well. She sighed as she swung the kitchen door open and realized that Emma Swan was going to really test every ounce of patience she had.

Taking the whole kitchen in she saw that the blonde was making breakfast. She had made herself quite at home as she cooked what looked like pancakes. She never imagined Emma being the domestic type, but watching her now she thinks that she would have made a good mother if she had kept Henry.

She was broken out of her inspection by the sound of the blonde singing along with the music that seemed to be coming from Emma's phone. Then Henry was laughing and she couldn't help the small smile that came on her face. She would deal with the blonde if she got to hear that sound more often.

"Hey, mom!" Henry noticed her in the doorway.

"Good morning, Henry."

"Hey, hope you like pancakes." Regina couldn't help the scowl that came to her face. Emma looked over her shoulder to acknowledge her but then quickly brought her attention back to her cooking.

"I'll just have some oatmeal." Regina replied as she made her way over to the cabinet. Emma just shrugged, "Suit yourself. They're really good though. Even Henry helped." Emma winked at him as she placed a pancake on his plate.

"Yeah, mom! Emma let me help." He took a big bite of his pancake, "and they're delicious!"

"Henry don't talk with your mouth full." Regina reprimanded him. She saw his face drop slightly and knew she had sounded a little too harsh. Before she could do anything though Emma cut in, "yeah, kid. That's disgusting."

Her support would have been welcomed if she didn't have her own mouth full over-exaggerating Henry's own manners. Henry just laughed with his nose scrunched up in disgust.

"Eww, Ma!"

"See, it's disgusting. Listen to your mom and chew with your mouth closed."

"Ok, sorry." He looked over at Regina and she was standing there in surprise. She quickly recovered when her sons attention was brought back to her. Did Emma just help her? She didn't know what to think so she decided to analyze it later when she was alone.

"That's all right. Just remember your manners next time. I didn't raise a hooligan." She continued getting her oatmeal ready. Emma moved aside making room for her while still cooking more pancakes. It was with a practiced ease that she shared the kitchen and Regina thought it must come from sharing an apartment with Snow for all those months.

"Hey, kid, what's with the 'Ma'?" Emma asked trying to ease the tension that just appeared once it had gotten quiet. The only sound coming from the music still playing from Emma's phone. Regina knew it was because of her presence and didn't know what to do about it, but Emma's question got Henry talking easing them into somewhat normalcy.

"Well, I thought it was getting confusing calling you both mom, so I decided I would call you Ma. Is that ok?" He looked unsure for a second and Regina for once held her tongue. Emma's smile quickly settled his nerves. "Sure, kid."

"Cool." He grinned at Emma goofily and Regina was watching them both closely and for the first time noticed the similarities. They both had the same smile that lit up their eyes when they were truly happy. And watching right now as they were making pancakes in her kitchen she thought that just maybe they were happy. When Henry turned his grin on her she couldn't help but feel included. She looked over at Emma but she was already turning away and pouring more batter on to the pan.

"Miss Swan, you're doing it wrong." She watched as Emma not only made one pancake but poured two more that touched the first one. It just looked disfigured. She tried to grab the bowl with the batter, but Emma held it away from her.

"No I'm not. It's a Mickey Mouse pancake." Regina gave her a questioning look and then looked back down at the pancake. She tilted her head studying it, but if that was supposed to be Mickey Mouse than she was a fairy. She let out a low laugh and shook her head. Emma narrowed her eyes, but Regina noticed that she didn't look all that angry. Then she heard the distinct sound of muffled laughter. Looking over her shoulder she could see Henry stifling his laugh. He held up one of his pancakes and she saw that it was also a disfigured Mickey Mouse. She shared a mischievous glance with him and it made her feel warm inside.

"Dear, that's not Mickey Mouse. That's...well...I don't know what that is, but it's most definitely not Mickey Mouse." Emma's glare deepened as Regina's grin grew wider. "Here let me show you how to do it."

She went to grab the bowl again but Emma held it just out of reach. "I don't think so. I kind of like the way it looks." She tilted her own head to inspect the pancakes again. "I think it at least looks a little like a...mouse." She had slowed down at the end as Regina just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Okay fine! It doesn't look like Mickey Mouse, but I'm still eating it."

"That's great, dear. Now if you just let me, I can make one properly."

"That's ok." Emma shrugged and went back to cooking. Now Regina glared at her. Why couldn't she just let her help her. Then they wouldn't have disfigured pancakes. Without thinking, which happened a lot around Emma, she grabbed the bowl while Emma was still pouring and that's what started the great food fight of 2012.

The batter spilled and some of it got on Emma. Ok a lot of it. All over her face and shirt. She saw Regina holding back a laugh at how she looked and couldn't help just sticking her hand in the bowl and throwing some batter at Regina. Regina stopped laughing abruptly and spluttered indignantly. They both turned when they heard Henry laughing. Emma smiled along with him but Regina was still mad. No one had ever treated her like this. This was war.

Regina grabbed a handful of batter from the bowl and threw it at Emma and couldn't help but feel satisfied at the sound of the splat. "Food fight!" Henry yelled as he got up running from his spot at the table grabbing some flour as he went. Emma reacted quickly and threw some batter at Regina and then at Henry and that's when they decided to gain up on Emma. Regina grabbed the small kitchen sink hose and Henry grabbed the whole bag of flour. Emma ran and threw everything she could find at them. They all were laughing, wet and dirty by the time they heard the doorbell ring that stopped them all in their tracks.

Emma shared a look with Regina but before either of them could move to answer it someone came barreling in and ran into the kitchen. Emma's eyes widened slightly at the sight of her father with his sword raised.

"Hey, James. What brings you here so early?" Emma tried to act like she wasn't covered in food products and sopping wet.

He was looking around with his mouth hanging open. Emma took that moment to look around at what the kitchen had turned into. There was food ingredients, batter, and water everywhere. It was a mess and looked like a tornado had hit it. She first met Henry's and then Regina's gaze and they both looked as shocked as she did when they saw the result of their food fight.

"What happened?" Charming finally found his voice.

"What happened is you barged in here like you own the place and didn't even have the decency to wait until we answered the door." Emma was surprised how quickly Regina could become intimidating and cold again. Although the pancake batter did kind of ruin the effect. She did notice that James took a step back from Regina though. It made her chuckle and Regina and James both gave her a look. James was confused, but Regina seemed to know what she found amusing and judging by the look in her eye she found it amusing too.

"I did knock, but no one answered. I heard some noises and I didn't know what it was." James addressed her since Regina was being her usual snarky self.

"Maybe we didn't want to answer the door. Ever think of that Charming?" Emma rolled her eyes at Regina. James' shoulders sagged and he looked directly at Emma.

"James we're fine. We just got a little carried away with breakfast." Emma smiled guiltily at him.

"Emma you haven't even been here 24 hours yet." He shook his head with a little smile.

"Hey what makes you think this was my fault?" She shot a glare at Regina who had snorted. She did note that that was the first time she heard Regina make a noise like that. "Hey, you were the one that grabbed the batter and got it all over everything."

"Then you threw the batter at me deliberately. Mine was an accident." Regina argued. Emma put her hands in her back pockets defensively. "Whatever. Doesn't matter who started it." Regina smirked at her but otherwise didn't comment. Emma ignored her and brought her attention back to James.

"So what brought you here in the first place?" She quirked an eyebrow studying him. "And with a sword? Do you always carry a sword around?"

"Well, when you didn't show up with Henry at school-" Regina and Emma both looked at the clock.

"Oh shi-shoot! Henry we have to get you to school."

"Go get cleaned up and I'll drive you." Regina added as she pushed Henry towards the door. Emma followed and Charming was left there bewildered wondering what in the world they had gotten themselves into.

* * *

When Regina got back from dropping Henry off at school Emma had most of the kitchen already cleaned up. She was also glad to note that Charming was nowhere in sight. She took a deep breath and entered the kitchen. She really had no idea what came over her earlier today. She had never in all her life acted so out of character. In the car, after she dropped off Henry she tried to think of how she could let things get so out of control but the reasons eluded her. The only thing she could think of that made the breakfast different from any other was the presence of Emma Swan.

She also couldn't help but notice how much fun it was. How she heard her son laugh so freely. It was worth it to her. Even if he was late to school. So maybe having Emma Swan in her house wasn't all bad if she helped make Henry happy. She also didn't mind how she had backed her up on the manners thing. Also last night could have been really bad without Emma there. So there were a few reasons that having Emma Swan living with them was a good thing. She would never admit it to Miss Swan, but she could acknowledge it to herself.

"I cleaned most everything up. I also finished making your oatmeal for you." Emma set the bowl on the counter and Regina took it as the peace offering that it was. She had forgotten that she hadn't ate anything this morning in her rush to get Henry cleaned up and to school.

"Thank you." Regina said stiffly as she took her seat.

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something." If it were possible Regina's back straightened even more at Emma's words. Those had to be the most hated words in the human language. Emma saw Regina tense and quickly went on before Regina threw a fireball at her or something. "It's about Henry's nightmares."

Regina immediately let her guard down and studied Emma. Her clothes were still dirty from their food fight, but she had cleaned off her face. She looked serious and her concern was written plainly on her face.

"I was thinking there had to be something we could do to stop them. I mean Snow said that her mind had built defenses up to stop them, but according to James that took a while. I don't want Henry to go through that. He doesn't deserve it and I think we can figure out something."

Regina could tell that Emma blamed herself for Henry's condition. Regina also knew that Emma blamed her as well, but it seems the blonde was taking most of the responsibility. This made Regina feel guilty. She didn't feel guilty often, if ever, but when it concerned Henry and when he almost died she felt horribly guilty. She was the one that had made the apple turnover in the first place. It was her who had enchanted it with the sleeping curse. If it was anyone's fault it was hers.

"The only thing that I have seen that helps is you." Regina spoke and Emma looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't have his nightmares when you're close. You're magic prevents him from going to that place." Emma didn't say anything. It looked like she didn't really believe she was capable of that. "The only other thing that helped a little was when Rumpelstiltskin made him a necklace-"

"Please tell me the price wasn't something that Henry will pay for later." Emma groaned and finally sat down in the chair opposite of Regina. It looked like the world had settled on her shoulders.

"Of course not! I know better than anyone not to make a deal with Rumpelstiltskin. He gave it to Henry with no catch." Emma looked a little shocked at that and Regina knew the feeling. She had been just as disbelieving.

"Really? Well what did the necklace do and why didn't it work last night?" Emma asked curiously.

"It wasn't meant to stop the nightmares, but to be able to control the fires inside of them. It would make it so he at least wouldn't get physically hurt." Emma nodded along that she understood. "As to why it didn't work last night, that's because he doesn't have it anymore. He leant it to Charming when he went under the curse, but your father broke it."

"Can we get another one?" Emma asked without missing a beat.

"I'm sure Rumple will gladly make another one, but I don't think it would be free this time." Emma deflated a bit, but didn't look completely defeated or helpless like Regina felt. She had already been through this though. That's how she ended up going to Rumpelstiltskin in the first place. She didn't want to go to him for help again.

"Do you know how he made it or how we can possibly make it?" Regina racked her brain for anything, but she hadn't known much about the sleeping curse to begin with. She had gotten it from Maleficent and when she made it for Charming she was using Rumple's spellbook.

"I can research it, but I don't know how much help it could be."

"Ok and what were you talking about my magic?"

"Simply put. It protects Henry." Emma looked dumbfounded. "Like a shield." Regina supplied. Emma just looked skeptical again. Regina sighed, "I saw it Miss Swan." Now Emma's eyebrows shot up. "When we couldn't wake Henry up and you placed him on your lap. I could see your magic envelop him."

"How do you know it wasn't your magic?" Regina scowled at that thought. "Trust me, if it were my magic it wouldn't have been soothing. He probably would have gone deeper into his nightmare." Emma nodded.

"Ok, so do you think their is any other way besides me sleeping close to him that could keep the nightmares away? I mean I'll sleep next to him every night if I have to, but their has to be another way." Regina looked helplessly around her hoping the answer would just pop up out of nowhere. Her eyes landed on Emma and studying her for a moment, taking everything about her in she thought she just might have an answer.

"Where did you get that necklace?" Emma was thrown off by the question, but her hand unconsciously went to her necklace. Once she had gathered herself Regina saw all of her defenses go up. Well, that was interesting.

"What does my necklace have to do with anything?" And there was that defensive side that Regina was used to.

"How long have you had it?" Regina asked instead of answering Emma's question. Emma just sat there though refusing to answer anything until Regina spoke first. Regina huffed, but gave in.

"All right, so I have an idea. Sometimes there are items that mean a lot to us. Ones that we keep close at all times. When those items are held by a magical being their magic can rub off on them. And if I'm correct, you have had that necklace for a very long time. I'm sure it has your magical essence all over it. Maybe just Henry wearing that can keep him out of his nightmares." Regina was excited by this. This could actually work. She sat there excitedly, but then noticed Emma's face wasn't as excited. She actually looked crestfallen.

"Look, this necklace doesn't have some happy, comforting meaning to me. It's a reminder of..." Regina found herself leaning forward listening intently. This was the most Emma had ever talked about herself. At least to her anyway. "...let's just say it's a reminder. It won't help Henry."

"What about the other one?" Emma sighed and let her fingers trail down the other necklace that she wore. "Can't I just, I don't know, enchant another necklace or something?"

"That could work too, but I just think that since you've had those for quite sometime that they would be stronger." Regina really wanted to know more. She found herself curious about Emma's past and not in the 'I want to use it to get you thrown out of town' kind of way. It was more a curiosity of what made Emma Swan the woman she was today.

"Ok. This one would be better." Emma took off the one that was a circle. It was elegant in its simplicity. Just a circle. A circle could mean so much. Regina thought this could actually work. They should make sure though.

"Why don't we put some of your magic into it just to be on the safe side." Emma sighed, "and how do we do that?"

"It's just like we did last night Miss Swan. Just like when you healed Henry. You just have to gather that magic inside of you and then push it into the ring." She saw Emma take a deep breath and start to focus. She watched in fascination as her facial expression changed from one of concentration to one of calmness. Emma's magic thrilled her in a way that nothing else had. It was extremely powerful, but unlike the seductive evil power of darkness, it was like being able to feel love literally. It floated around Regina, relaxing her and in no time at all she saw the white glow coming from Emma's hand. Then she saw the blonde struggling and automatically reached over and took her hand. Emma's eyes shot open at the contact. Regina felt the same tingling feeling from last night.

"Make sure to focus on that love you have for Henry. That protectiveness that you feel every time he's in trouble. Imagine that love becoming a shield that surrounds him." Emma's eyes never left hers as she spoke soothingly. It was just like last night and Regina realized that she could get addicted to this feeling. The feel of Emma's magic. It was what everyone was looking for but rarely found. If she could she would find a way to bottle that magic and keep it with her always. Emma and Regina were so lost in the feeling that they seemed to have forgotten what they were doing, but then they looked down simultaneously as if the magic itself reminded them. The circle necklace that rested in Emma's other hand was glowing bright and Regina helped direct the magic into it. Making sure it got to where it was supposed to go. After a moment the light gradually started to fade and Emma and Regina were left staring at it.

"Did it work?" Emma broke the silence.

"I believe so." Regina met her gaze and she noticed that the blonde looked tired. She must have used a lot of magic. "We'll have to wait until tonight to know for sure, but I think this should suffice."

Emma nodded and then stood up clutching the necklace in her hand. "Good. I'm going to go clean myself up and then I'll be heading into work."

"All right, dear." Regina really wanted to suggest that she lay down for a little while, but thought that argument would be pointless. Of the little she knew of Emma Swan, telling her to do something usually ended up with her doing the opposite. Emma turned to leave, but then stopped halfway to the door.

"What are you going to be doing today?" Regina's walls immediately went up and she put on her own mask of indifference that had got her through most of her life. "That is none of your business, Miss Swan."

She hadn't meant to sound rude, but it just hit a sore spot when anyone brought up that she really had nothing to do now. She wasn't a queen, nor a mayor, and she was barely still a mother now. She saw Emma's back straighten in defense, but she didn't fight back. Regina almost hoped she would. She seemed to understand Regina's sudden hostility though and let it go.

"Right. Whatever. Will you be picking up Henry from school or-"

"I can do it. He likes to go to the stables after school sometimes but we'll see how much homework he has." Emma nodded in agreement.

"Ok then. I guess I'll just see you later." And without another word Emma turned back around and walked away. Regina deflated after she was out of the room. It seemed their relationship worked best when Henry was there with them. She sighed then realizing something now that Emma was gone. What was she going to do now?


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: nothing's mine.**

**AN: thanks for all of the reviews and support. Hope you like this chapter. It's more of a filler chapter, but here it is.  
**

* * *

Emma was a little bit frustrated by the time she got to her old apartment. She was going to meet Snow and Charming there since she wasn't really sure if she still had a job as Sheriff. Did Fairytale Land have Sheriff's? She wasn't sure, but she thought that they did at least have Generals or something of the sort to keep everyone in line. Would she still be Sheriff or did she have to be a _Princess_ now? That was a horrible thought. She couldn't even imagine what that would entail. As she got to the door, she wasn't sure if she should knock or just go in. She raised her hand figuring that she would be polite and couldn't help but shake it out first. It still tingled from the magic she had done not too long ago. She did not like that feeling. Not one bit. It unsettled her and made her unsure of herself. Something she did not need at the moment. Shaking off her insecurities she quickly rapped on the door and heard a call from inside, 'Coming!' The door was opened a moment later by Snow.

"Emma!" she was quickly gathered in a hug that caught her off guard. She was not used to all of the affection. Henry was one thing, but she was still unused to all of the hugging from other people. She wondered if she would ever be used to it. Snow released her and ushered her inside and she found Charming leaning against the counter in the kitchen with a mug in hand. he raised it to her in greeting and she gave him a little wave back just grateful that he wasn't rushing to hug her too.

"How are you? Charming told me about breakfast?" Snow raised an eyebrow in question. Emma smiled just remembering the food fight. She had never seen Regina look so free and light. She actually laughed and joined in rather aggressively. Emma knew it was probably because she had been wound up so tight that it took something as little as some batter being thrown in her face to set her off. It was better than her killing someone though. And the look on Henry's face was unforgettable. He actually looked like a little kid for once. Just having some unadulterated fun with his parents. That was another thought. Her and Regina were his parents. Together. Weird.

"About that, why did you two feel the need to come in guns blazing because Henry was a little late for school?" Emma questioned easily evading telling Snow about the whole food fight incident.

"She's the evil queen, Emma. We weren't sure everything was okay. She could change back to her old ways and take it out on you." Snow became serious.

"Then why are you allowing us to stay there with her? If you don't trust her, then why are you risking us?" Emma was certainly confused. That made no sense to her at all. If it were her in Snow's position she probably wouldn't let Henry do it if she felt that way.

"Because we trust you. You say that Regina can be trusted. That she won't hurt you because she doesn't want to hurt Henry. I can believe that. " Snow relented slightly, but Emma still studied her. She wasn't really answering the question about why they had gone crazy that morning. Snow sighed, "Emma, it's going to take some getting used to. I am used to Regina doing everything she can to hurt me and when you didn't show up this morning I overreacted. I'm sorry, but my first instinct was that something bad had happened and when Regina's involved that's usually the case."

Emma felt that protectiveness for Regina surge again. She didn't know where it was coming from, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with her being in the same place not too long ago. Emma had a pretty colorful past too, but everyone gave her a chance. She wondered why no one was willing to do the same for Regina. If anyone just took a moment to take a closer look you would see that Regina was really trying.

"Look, I know that you two are like arch enemies or whatever but we decided that this is what's best for Henry. It's not going to help him if every time we are late or something comes up that you two bring the cavalry with swords raised. That may be the way it worked in the Enchanted Forest, but here in this world we ask questions first. We take into account everything, okay?" Snow nodded in understanding and she saw Charming nod in agreement too. They were both properly chastised and that felt awkward for Emma because weren't they supposed to be the parents. She shook that thought off though because that would be a whole other can of worms that she still wasn't prepared to deal with.

"All right, let's talk business now." Emma went down to sit at the table and Snow and Charming followed suit. She didn't miss the proud stares that she received from both her parents. It made her feel uncomfortable, so she of course ignored it. "Who's actually running the town now that Regina isn't in charge?"

Snow looked to Charming since he was the one that had been here the whole time, "Well, I guess that would be me." He wriggled a bit in his seat. Emma took that as a bad sign.

"And?" she inquired further.

"It's just that running a town is a little different than running a kingdom and even then, Snow did most of the talking. She was more of a politician than I ever was. I mean you saw her at the town meeting. I was always more of the force behind her words. I'm better at taking action."

"What does that mean exactly?" Emma didn't like where this was going.

"It means that your father was more like the Sheriff rather than the mayor. It means that no one is really running the town, right sweetheart?" Snow answered her question for her. Emma's shoulders drooped in dismay. Great. No wonder people were a little crazy at the town meeting. They had no one there to lead them. To tell them that things were under control. They didn't feel safe in this town now that everything had changed and no one was there to give them direction. It was just another thing on her long list of things to do. She didn't know how she got roped into trying to take care of this situation, but for some reason she felt a responsibility to making sure everyone was okay. Maybe that came from being the Sheriff before the curse. She had been given the responsibility to protect this town and now it was something that she took seriously. Something that she knew she was going to be doing a lot more of in the future.

"Okay, so now we need a new plan." Her parents nodded in agreement. "I say that either Snow or both of you take on the role of Mayor. Whichever you prefer is fine by me. If James, you want to still be Sheriff while Snow is mayor that could work, since you like actually doing something rather than sitting behind a desk." Snow and Charming looked at each other as if having a silent conversation, "or, if neither of you want to do it, I'm sure we can have a re-election or something."

"No, no I don't mind. I was born into that life and was raised to be able to handle it." Snow said quickly reassuring Emma. "We just weren't sure about what Charming would like to do." Snow looked at James again and Emma just waited for them while they seemed to be talking telepathically. She studied them and was glad to see when they finally came to a decision.

"Okay, how about Charming and I effectively rule together as co-mayor's. We will oversee the people and make sure that the laws of this land are reinforced. Then you could take up the reigns of Sheriff again while reporting to us. Kind of like our General." Emma could see how Snow was trying to make her ways work in this world. How she was mixing them together. At first Emma wanted to rebel at the thought of reporting to anyone, but she then thought about it and realized that this might be best for the town. It was a good mixture of their old world and new one, which is what everyone was struggling to come to terms with. How they had old memories and new ones. Old lives with the lives that they had been living for the past 28 years.

"I think that might actually work." Emma smiled in agreement. Both her parents beamed at her and this time the uncomfortable feeling was also accompanied by a warm feeling of approval that just radiated off of them.

"Why don't you two go to city hall and try to bring some order there, while I do the same at the Sheriff's station. We could probably have this town running more efficiently in no time." She didn't know where this was coming from. Maybe just living with Regina for 24 hours was already rubbing off on her. Or maybe it was from being the Sheriff with Regina as the mayor that taught her that the people needed order and structure for everything to run smoothly. She had a feeling that if they ever needed help achieving that goal that the former Madame Mayor would be the best person to go to. She hoped it didn't come to that because that would just be hard on everyone. Snow brought her out of her thoughts.

"Sounds good. We'll meet later for lunch?" Snow asked.

"Yeah, sure. Granny's?" Emma asked as she stood up and Charming and Snow followed suit.

"Of course." Charming smiled at her.

"Okay, see you two later."

* * *

It was 9 pm when Emma walked through the door of the Mills Mansion. She was beyond exhausted. she had just had the longest day trying to get the Sheriff's station back in some kind of order. She was definitely going to have a talk with Charming tomorrow about his paperwork skills, as in he didn't have any. The station had been a mess when she had gotten in there. She let out a breath as she closed the door behind her and realized she was home. Looking around though she found the house eerily quiet. Seeing a light on in the kitchen she figured that would be her best bet on finding life. Walking in she saw that Regina was by the stove making what looked like tea.

"Hey." Emma said lamely not really sure how to greet her. Regina didn't even turn around and Emma took that as a sign that she was mad at her for something or other.

"Good Evening, _Sheriff_." The way Regina said her title made it sound like it was something disgusting. She still didn't turn around to face her though, which Emma found a little unsettling. Her mother's words from earlier came unbidden to her mind. "You missed dinner."

Emma laughed in response, which was probably not the best idea because Regina whirled around and if looks could kill she definitely would be dead a lot of times over from Regina's death glare. Emma quickly straightened up gearing for the fight that she was very ill prepared for. It had been such a long day and now this. "I didn't think you would miss me."

"I didn't." Regina snapped and it seemed that made it click in Emma's brain too. Henry. That was the only way to get Regina this mad. She sighed and her shoulders drooped in understanding.

"Is he still awake?" she asked and maybe it was something in her tone, but Regina decided to actually answer her.

"I sent him to bed a half hour ago, but I'm sure he's still awake waiting for you." her answer sounded bitter and Emma couldn't really blame her. Henry gave her his unconditional love whereas Regina had to work so hard for him just to get a smile from him. Emma just nodded though and turned to head up the stairs to his bedroom. She steeled herself before walking in. Opening the door her eyes quickly sought out the only light in the room, which was coming from underneath Henry's comforter. It looked like he had a flashlight under there, probably reading a book. She shook her head with a little smile. Some things never changed.

"Hey, kid." She sat down beside him on the bed. He threw the covers off of himself and launched himself at her. She laughed lowly at his enthusiasm to see her. "I wasn't gone that long, was I?"

"No, it's just that you weren't here..." Henry shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but she could see he had been worried. She instantly felt bad upon seeing his sad eyes. Since this was Emma's first time actually being a parent she didn't realize she had to be home for dinner or that he would want her there to say goodnight to him. She wasn't used to that at all and it wasn't like she had forgot about him, it was just that there was a lot of work to do at the station and she figured Regina could handle Henry. She realized being a parent was going to be a lot more than her sneaking away time with him when Regina wasn't looking. She was going to have to be there on a more consistent basis. He needed stability from her and she resolved that she would give him that. He deserved no less from her.

"I'm sorry, kid, there was a lot of things to take care of at the station, it seems Gramps isn't good at doing paperwork." She got a smile out of him and he nodded in understanding.

"It's okay, Grandpa barely did any paperwork while you were gone. I tried to tell him, but he said it didn't really matter anyway since there was no mayor to turn it into."

"Of course he said that. Why am I not surprised?" She shook her head in amusement. "Everything was okay here though, right? Nothing bad happened? Dinner was good?" She asked concerned for a second. She never thought Regina would ever hurt Henry, but she knew they were still learning how to be a family again and Henry liked her there for support. She really messed up today by working late.

"Yeah, everything was fine. I finished my homework early so mom took me to the stables. Then she made lasagna for dinner and said I could watch some TV before bed since I had been so good today. I think she was just trying to make up for you not being there for dinner." Henry said this with a nonchalance that Regina would be proud of, but she could see that it had bothered him more than he was saying.

"That sounds pretty good." She didn't know what else to say to him. She didn't know how to make it up to him.

"It was. I mean dinner was kind of quiet, but mom was really nice and she didn't use any magic or anything."

"You don't have to report to me or anything like that. I know she didn't use any magic." Emma assured him. She didn't want him to feel like he had to keep an eye on Regina. He needed to focus on rebuilding his relationship with her. That's all he needed to be doing. That and being a kid.

"How do you know that?" He asked her curiously, not at all accusing, just curious.

"Because she told you she wouldn't. She's trying really hard Henry and she's not going to be messing that up for anything." He smiled softly at her and she was glad that she could put those fears to rest. She would remind him every day if she had to. She watched on as he yawned and she reached over to pull his book and flashlight out of his lap. "Come on, kid. It's time for you to go to sleep."

"Oh and your mom came up with something that we thought would help you with your nightmares." She had almost forgotten but reaching into her pocket she pulled out the necklace she had enchanted from earlier. "We were worried about your nightmares, so your mom came up with the idea to enchant this necklace to keep the nightmares away."

"Cool!" Henry reached out to touch it in awe, but then stopped himself, "I thought you said she didn't use magic."

"She didn't. I did. She just showed me how." Emma shrugged and Henry smiled goofily at her. "Maybe Mom could teach you how to use your magic."

Emma rolled her eyes, "Yeah, we'll see about that later. I'm sure those lessons would just be tons of fun and we would probably, eventually end up killing each other."

Henry laughed and she was glad to see that he had forgiven her already for missing dinner with him. "Here, this necklace was given to me by someone when I was just about your age. They were really important to me." She brought the necklace up and latched it around his neck. She watched as Henry's hand came up to inspect it delicately. He always enjoyed hearing stories about her past. She was reluctant to give him any, but every so often he would weasel one out of her.

"What happened to them?" He asked without looking at her, still inspecting the necklace for what she would guess as signs of magic.

"She died." She said steadily, but quietly. His eyes shot up to hers sympathetically. She hated being pitied and that's why she didn't tell anybody her stories. They were all pity-worthy and she didn't want that. She gave him a smile though to ease his worries, "maybe sometime I'll tell you about her. We had some fun adventures together. But right now, you need to go to sleep."

She ruffled his hair affectionately and he smiled tiredly up at her as he laid down. She pulled up the covers and leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Sweet dreams, kid." she whispered tenderly.

"Good night, Ma. Love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

Regina listened on the other side of the door, but when she heard them getting ready to say good night she quickly made her way down the stairs so she wouldn't be caught. She had learned a few things by listening. Some were new and some not some new. Like Henry still being a little wary of her wasn't new at all. She knew dinner had been awkward and uncomfortable, but she still couldn't say it was bad because he had been there. That was enough for her.

She had spent most of her day re-cleaning the kitchen and then tried to make herself busy by cleaning anything else she could get her hands on. She practically ran out the door when it was time to pick up Henry. She knew he usually took the bus, but she just wanted to spend time with him and was bored out of her mind. Once she had him in the car her day had gotten exponentially better. He had kept her pretty much busy for the rest of the day. The only bump in the road was Ms. Swan not showing up for dinner. Emma didn't even have the decency to call and say she wouldn't make it. Regina didn't really mind, but seeing Henry down and out because of it had hit a nerve. She hated seeing him upset and she had tried really hard to make it up to him by even allowing him to watch television on a school night. She heard Emma coming down the stairs so made herself look busy by sipping the tea she had been making.

"I gave Henry the necklace." Emma said as she made her way over to the refrigerator. Regina grit her teeth still not used to the blonde living here and making herself at home, which she made look so effortless. She watched silently as Emma looked through the refrigerator contents, "Henry said something about lasagna?" She could hear the hope in Emma's voice and couldn't help the roll of her eyes.

"Third shelf on the left." Regina tried to sound as exasperated as she could even if she was a little amused at the blonde. She wasn't ready to make Emma feel welcome in her home after putting Henry through her absence.

"Ah, there it is. Thanks." Emma closed the door and went to get a fork. "And look, I'm sorry about not being home for dinner. I had a lot of work at the station and didn't realize that Henry would be so upset about it. I'll make sure it won't happen again." Emma looked her straight in the eye and Regina could see the sincerity in every word she said. She gave her a solemn nod.

"I thought as much. That's why I took the liberty of making you a schedule." Emma just gave her a look that was disbelieving.

"Are you serious?" Emma watched as she made her way to pick up a piece of paper from the counter and she handed it to Emma with a sickeningly sweet smile, "you are serious."

"Regina, I am not going to be living by some schedule. Some schedule that _you _made." Emma put emphasis on the word you. Regina narrowed her eyes.

"And I will not have you upsetting Henry because you don't know how to be a parent." Regina knew it was a low blow and judging by the newly acquired stiffness to Emma's back she had probably struck a chord.

"You're right. I don't know how to be a parent. I'm trying to learn though." Emma replied coldly.

"Which is what the schedule is for. It's just to remind you of your new responsibilities." Regina was using her politician placating voice. It usually worked on most people but judging by Emma's facial expression it didn't work well with Ms. Swan. Maybe she should dial down the patronizing tone just a bit. After a moment of them staring each other down Emma finally snatched the paper from Regina's hand. Regina stood there and watched as Emma perused her work. Let's just say since she was bored earlier that day she thought the Sheriff could use this schedule to make sure Regina's life could stay orderly. She figured this was the best way to keep her life from not spiraling out into complete chaos. She knew it would be a long shot that Emma would actually use the schedule, but it would be a challenge for her. Something she could put her energy into. It was a goal.

"Okay, I guess I could use this as some sort of guidelines. Parenting 101?" Emma tried to make light of the situation. Regina didn't miss how she said they were more like guidelines rather than a strict schedule.

"Ms. Swan, that schedule better be adhered to. It will provide stability and the consistency that Henry needs." Regina could see she had gotten her when she threw in the Henry card. It was each of their weaknesses and Regina was internally patting herself on the back at her win. Emma looked down at the paper again. She heard the blonde let out a sigh and knew it was a done deal. Emma sat down at the counter with her lasagna.

"Okay, but how about I do breakfast, while you take care of dinners." Emma didn't look up but took out a pen to cross out things and add her thoughts. Regina couldn't believe Emma was changing her schedule, but more importantly she was surprised Emma was taking this seriously.

"You'll have to wake up early in order to do that, dear. Are you sure you can handle it?" Emma just shrugged without looking up.

"I'm a light sleeper. I wouldn't be able to sleep through Henry getting ready for school anyway." Regina scowled at this new information. "Plus, my area of cooking expertise mainly focuses on breakfast foods. Unless you don't mind ordering in or going to Granny's for dinner. Oh, I also make a killer mac and cheese dish." Emma smirked at her and Regina had to roll her eyes.

"Okay, so I'm doing dinners." Regina didn't miss the grin that Emma gave her, but decided to ignore it, "Since you're making breakfast, I'll make Henry's lunch for school for him."

"Sounds good." Emma agreed. "That takes care of feeding the kid. Let's move onto chores..." Their schedule making was actually very productive and Regina felt satisfied with the end result. She didn't know Emma could be this responsible. It looked like she was taking this parenting business seriously. Regina couldn't help but feel like she enjoyed this experience. Having someone to talk things through with, sharing responsibility, and with Emma Swan of all people. She didn't think it would be this easy to let someone else into her structured family unit. It had been hard enough when she had first gotten Henry. Adjusting to having a child was extremely difficult for her and she thought adding anyone else would be impossible, but it seemed Emma just slid into their lives like she had been there the whole time. Like there was already a spot carved out for her just waiting for her arrival. She didn't know whether to be relieved or a little scared at that thought.

"All right, since that's done I'm going to head up to bed." Emma stood up ending their discussion. Regina felt a little uneasy seeing at how their conversation was coming to an end. She didn't know what that meant, maybe she just hadn't had a civil conversation with an adult that she had actually enjoyed in a long time. She shrugged that feeling off though and rose to her feet as well realizing how late it was. The clock read that it was already 11:30 pm.

"Yes, it's been a long day." She watched as Emma went to the sink to clean her dishes. Again she was surprised that Emma wasn't the slob she had assumed she was. Or maybe Emma was just trying to appease Regina's OCD tendencies. Emma did look tired and starting a fight now would only use more energy that the blonde didn't seem to have.

"Well, at least we could say we survived day one of living together." Emma threw a smirk over her shoulder and Regina found an amused smile coming to her face automatically.

"Yes, it looks like we have. Let's hope the same can be said for tomorrow." Regina gave Emma a wicked smile to try and rattle the blonde, but Emma just smiled back. Regina wondered if she would ever be able to really rattle Emma Swan. Maybe that could be her next goal.

"I'm sure we'll survive. We've survived a lot already, this should be easy enough." Emma said confidently as she dried her hands on a dish towel. Regina thought that statement was very true. After everything the both of them had been through on their own this should be piece of cake. Regina found herself nodding in agreement.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"And let me just say for the record, that I am glad I have my own bathroom, otherwise I'm sure you would have scheduled when I was allowed to pee." Regina rolled her eyes and sighed. Just like that Emma's mouth ruined a good evening.

"Good night, Ms. Swan." Regina turned to leave.

"Good night, Regina." She could practically hear the smile in Emma's voice even if she didn't look.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: nothing's mine. **

**AN: Hope you enjoy! Thanks for the support and reviews! Mainly just some Regina and Emma bonding time.  
**

* * *

"Miss Swan!" Emma had been living here for a week now. One week, but letting out a breath as she stood up from her bed, it seemed like she had been living here a lot longer. Her and Regina actually got along pretty well, for the most part. Well, as well as the two of them could get along. Their schedule went a long way in helping Emma get through each day without Regina cutting off her head and it gave Regina some order. But as each day passed Emma could see Regina get snappier towards her or she would pick a fight with her for no other reason than that she could. Emma had a feeling she knew where this was coming from, but she wasn't sure how to deal with it, so they argued. And then argued some more.

Emma would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy some of it. There was something about fighting with the former mayor that was both familiar and exhilarating. It brought her back to a time before there was a curse. Before fairytale characters were real. Before she had parents and everything got so complicated. She huffed half-heartedly as she made her way down the stairs towards the voice that called her. She wasn't really in the mood for arguing right now though. She was tired from working, fairytale characters were a lot more annoying and complained more than their cursed counterparts. She was at the foot of the stairs when she heard it again.

"Miss Swan, get down here this instant!" Emma turned towards the door leading to the basement where she found the voice was coming from. She hadn't even known this place had a basement until Henry showed her. It was where the laundry room was. She trudged down the stairs until she saw Regina holding some clothes in her hands.

"Hey I thought you said you weren't going to be doing my laundry?" Emma asked curiously. She had done a load earlier and was just waiting for it to finish so she could put it in the dryer. Regina turned on her with a deadly stare. If Emma weren't so used to it already she might have shrunk back and fled for her life, but she knew Regina wouldn't really hurt her. Hopefully.

"I was not doing your laundry, Miss Swan. I was doing mine and guess what I find when I get down here, hmm?" Emma knows the question is rhetorical but answers anyway.

"Clothes." She shrugs knowing she's being a smartass but can't really help it. Regina just brings it out of her.

"Clothes?" She mutters incredulously. Now Emma knows she might need to back away because the look in the brunette's eyes are definitely shining with murderous intent. "Clothes!" She shrieks and Emma winces. Yup, she definitely pushed the former mayor too far this time. Even though she's not sure exactly what she did.

"Let's be more specific shall we? Your clothes are mixed with mine! My clothes were delicate and yours ruined them!" She held up a piece of cloth that did indeed look ruined.

"I didn't do it. I hadn't even put my clothes in the dryer yet. I swear." Emma tried to defend herself.

"So what do you suppose happened? The laundry fairies came and put the clothes in there together?" Regina was getting a little too hysterical over laundry and it was kind of freaking Emma out.

"Are there really laundry fairies?" She tried to distract the former evil queen. She hoped former.

"Of course there isn't!" It didn't work. "Now just look at what your horrible clothes did to mine. You will pay for all of the clothes that you ruined, Miss Swan." Now this got Emma upset.

"What do you mean horrible? And it wasn't my fault. You're the one that left your clothes in there in the first place. And what happened to the schedule? Today is my day for laundry." She went to grab some of her clothes to look at them. "You should be paying to fix my clothes! Look at these!" Emma pulled out one of her white tank tops, which was now a definite shade of pink.

"That looks no different than it did before, dear." Regina's eyes narrowed and they both didn't notice how close they were to each other. And they both most definitely did not notice the sparks that were jumping off each other.

"Now you will be paying to fix these Miss Swan." Regina's voice was deadly as she shoved the clothes at Emma. Emma shoved them right back. "I don't think so. You'll be paying to fix these." They stared at each other in a stand off until out of nowhere there was an explosion from behind them. They both fell to the ground in a heap as they were covered in water, soap and clothes. They both sat up slowly and looked around wide eyed.

"What just happened?" Emma spoke meeting Regina's eyes. When she took in all of Regina, Emma couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. Regina was covered in water and soap and if that weren't enough she had a bra hanging off her head. And it just so happened to be one of Emma's bras too.

Regina took in the laughing blonde before her curiously until she really took a good look at her too. She was soaked as well with soap bubbles around her head and one of her dark blue thongs hanging off of her ear. She finally understood the hilarity of the situation and laughed along with Emma. Both really laughing for the first time in what felt like ages. They finally let it all out and the tension they had been carrying with them since this situation started was lifted off of them with their laughter. It felt really good and they both continued laughing until their sides hurt. After their laughter died down they were left in a comfortable silence as they both sat back against one of the walls of the room.

"So…you want to talk about it?" Emma commented nonchalantly. Regina narrowed her gaze and crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive posture. It always amazed Emma how Regina's attitude could change so quickly, but she was getting used to it. "I have no idea what you are talking about, dear."

"Cut the crap, Regina. You're getting antsy being all cooped up in this house." Regina let out a sigh and for the first time that Emma had known her she saw Regina's defenses drop just a bit. Her shoulders went down infinitesimally, but it was enough for Emma to realize that Regina really was struggling with so many things. "That's probably where the bout of accidental magic came from."

Regina's brow furrowed in confusion, "What in the world are you talking about?"

"You know, when your emotions are so high that your magic just kinda responds to it and it gets out of control, like the washer and dryer blowing up." Emma shrugged as if this was common sense. Regina just stared at her like she had three heads, "Where did you get that from, Miss Swan?"

"From a very reliable source about magic." Emma didn't meet Regina's eyes as she let this little bit of information pass her lips. An uncomfortable silence fell between them, well at least to Emma it was uncomfortable.

"Are you going to tell me what this resource is, so I can figure out what you're talking about?" Emma could tell by the tone in her voice that Regina was growing impatient.

"Itwasharrypotter." Emma spoke very quickly and quietly, embarrassed by her answer.

"You're going to have to speak up, you sound like Henry." Emma finally met Regina's eyes and glared at her as she crossed her arms over her chest, "I got it from Harry Potter, okay?"

Regina started laughing again. That was just priceless. Emma just sighed. Of course Regina would laugh at her. What else was she supposed to do though? She didn't want to talk about her magical capabilities to anyone else, so she went to the only source that she found in this house, which happened to be Henry's bedroom. She had already read the 'Once Upon a Time' book, so Harry Potter was next on her list of magical references.

"Yeah, laugh it up, but by the way, why don't we have wands?" Emma asked as Regina's laughter was dying down.

"The fairies use wands and they are very powerful tools, but still magic comes from within you and if you're good enough you don't need a wand to channel that magic." Regina answered the question without a second thought. It was easy for her to go into teaching mode. It was like how she was with Henry, Henry always asked her a multitude of questions and she enjoyed that inquisitive nature about him. That must be why she felt comfortable talking to Emma like this she thought.

"Does it have something to do with light and dark magic?" Emma asked curiously, "because fairies are supposed to be light magic, right?" Emma scratched her head not even noticing that this was one of the most civil conversations that she had ever had with Regina.

"There really isn't a difference between light and dark magic. Magic is just magic. It's the way the user uses it that makes it light or dark, except for maybe you that is. You are pure light because you are the product of true love, the most purest and powerful of all magic." Regina looked over at Emma and Emma started feeling uncomfortable again.

"Anyways," Regina continued on for Emma's sake, "The fairies get their magic from fairy dust, which then is put into the wands that they use and that is how they use magic." Emma scrunched up her face as she thought about it and Regina just looked on waiting for her to do something. Eventually Emma just shrugged her shoulders, "Whatever, I don't really care how it works as long as I can learn how to not use it."

It was Regina's turn to look confused. How could Emma not want to tap into her magic? She was probably the most powerful magical being that walked through this realm and their old one. How could she not want to use that to her advantage? The possibilities were infinite when it came to that kind of magic. It made no sense to her whatsoever.

"You're strange." Emma threw a smirk at Regina for her comment.

"I've been called a lot worse." Regina looked her up and down. "I bet you have."

"Now back to the matter at hand. What are we going to do so that you don't blow up any more home appliances? Not that it wasn't entertaining, of course." Emma questioned with a wry smile.

"For the record I don't think it was just _me_ having a 'bout of accidental magic'." Regina threw back at Emma.

"Thanks for using Harry Potter terminology and for now I think it's safe to say it was both of us and it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't have freaked out about the laundry." Regina let out a sigh as she thought about it. There was just silence though. Regina honestly didn't know what to say, she didn't know what Emma wanted to hear.

"How about we get you a new job? You know, I could always use a new Deputy." Emma tried to hold back her smile at the thought. For some reason she knew she would get a reaction out of Regina for this suggestion, but she figured anything was better than the lost look that had settled on Regina's features. A look Emma most certainly had never seen before and didn't like seeing now.

"That is never going to happen. Don't you think we spend enough time together as it is?" Regina shot Emma a scathing look that said you are probably the most idiotic person I have ever had the misfortune of knowing. Emma just smiled right back at her and Regina could only roll her eyes.

"Point taken. How about the flower shop?" Emma asked instead.

"Miss Swan, no one is going to hire me. No one would want to work with the Evil Queen." Regina spit out. Suddenly this conversation wasn't any more fun for Regina. It was rather depressing actually. Emma's face took on a thoughtful look. There had to be something that Regina could do that would be satisfying and occupy her time. Something she enjoyed doing.

"Well, what do you like to do?" Emma asked. Regina huffed annoyingly, this was going nowhere.

"I don't know. I've never really done anything that I enjoyed except for adopting Henry." Regina all of a sudden felt tired. This was never going to work.

"Come on, Regina, there has to be something that you have enjoyed in your unnaturally long life." Emma looked over at Regina who was looking more and more depressed by the second. Now that wouldn't do, "And if you say torturing Snow White I'm going to have to punch you or something." Emma was rewarded with a slight quirk of Regina's lips.

"Ah, yes, I did enjoy that." Emma just shook her head. Regina was strange herself, but for some reason Emma knew if she tried hard enough she could always get the former mayor to smile just a little bit. Regina didn't know how Emma did it either, with just a look or a word Emma could make her feel not so hopeless. "You know, I did enjoy horseback riding when I was a young girl."

"Horseback riding? So that's where Henry gets it from. No way he got that from me." Emma said thoughtfully. She didn't realize her statement had warmed Regina up just a little bit inside. Knowing that her son took after one of her better qualities.

"How about you work at the stables then?" Emma asked.

"No." Regina said flatly and Emma was taken off guard by Regina's all of a sudden coldness. It confused her for a moment, but as she studied Regina she remembered the story that Henry and Charming told her about how Regina's love had been brought back to life by Frankenstein, who happened to be their very own Dr. Whale. She studied Regina for a moment longer, gauging what way to take the conversation that wouldn't upset her and make things worse. She didn't know why, but she wanted to help Regina.

"How about you get a couple of horses then and make a stable in the backyard? God knows you have enough room back there and if you didn't it goes right back into the forest. I'm sure you could work something out." Regina thought about this. It could definitely work with the amount of space she had back there. She also wouldn't be reminded of Daniel as much as she would be at the Storybrooke stables where he had died for the second time right in front of her eyes. Even when she just dropped Henry off, just seeing that building brought back horrible feelings and she never even stepped a foot in there. Henry would also be able to have his horse at the house. It could be a fun project and would take up a lot of her spare time. She would have to think about that prospect.

Emma took her silence in stride and let her think that option over for a while. She knew she had probably hit the jackpot with that idea, but just in case she wanted to make sure Regina took in all of her options.

"And if that doesn't work maybe you could try a new hobby or something?" Emma offered. Regina brought her attention back to Emma and her eyebrow rose in silent question wondering where she was going with this. She couldn't help but notice that no one had ever asked her what she wanted to do with her life. What she enjoyed to do? What made her happy? And even if she would imagine someone asking her, she never would have come up with Emma Swan being the one to do it.

"Like what, dear?" Regina let out trying to sound exasperated and not at all interested in what Emma had to say, even though she was.

"Hmm…how about painting?" Regina stayed silent and gave her a look that said, 'really? That's the best you could come up with?'. "Or you could garden, wait never mind you already do that. How about playing an instrument? Oooh, wait I've got it! You can write a book!" Emma looked at Regina triumphantly. Regina still had that disapproving looking on her face.

"And what shall I write about? The weather?" Regina drawled back. Emma rolled her eyes.

"Of course not. You can write about you." Emma stated matter of factly. Regina's eyebrows shot up.

"Write about myself?" She asked just to make sure she understood what Emma was talking about.

"Yeah, you know, like an autobiography." Emma nodded like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"And who would want to read about that?" Regina asked scathingly.

"I would." Emma spoke catching Regina off guard again, so much so that she didn't know what to say. "Oh come on, I was never one for all this good vs. evil crap. There is no such thing. Everyone has good and bad in them and yes some people do more bad than good and others do more good than bad, but basically we all do both. I always like reading stories about what the bad guy went through, especially when the bad guy really isn't that bad or they're trying to redeem themselves. Most of the time people don't even know their side of the story. Like you. No one knows what your life was actually like and I think if you told them they would find it very interesting and they would probably would be a whole lot more forgiving."

To say Regina was stunned would be an understatement. It felt like Emma was letting her off the hook for all the bad things she had done. All the Evil Queen nonsense that had been closing in on her since she started this path of redemption. Emma just shrugged it off like she was actually forgiving her or at the very least giving her another chance. A chance that Regina herself wasn't even entirely sure that she deserved. But here was Emma. Emma with her annoying habits and annoying presence telling her it was ok and Regina felt a little bit of her burden lift off of her shoulders with that acceptance. An acceptance that she didn't even know she wanted let alone needed. Emma Swan was a conundrum. Hard, resolute, and very perceptive for someone who jumped into situations without thinking of the consequences.

"Well, you would be the only one, dear." Regina tried to regain her composure. Emma snorted.

"I doubt that. This world is a sucker for bad guys who are really good guys underneath. You know, the good girl falling for the misunderstood rebel or vice versa." Emma gave her a piercing gaze, "And I read Henry's book, you weren't always a bad guy. Just misunderstood." Emma let Regina take a moment, so the idea could sink in.

"And what makes you think I want anyone's forgiveness?" Regina lifted an eyebrow challengingly as she looked up at Emma.

"You probably don't, but the writing will probably be therapeutic or something like that." Emma shrugged.

"Now you just sound like Dr. Hopper." Emma grinned at her.

"I'll take that as a compliment. I think it's the first one you've ever given to me by the way." Regina rolled her eyes and huffed.

"I can assure you it was not meant as a compliment." Emma shrugged.

"You say tomato, I say tomatoe." Regina shook her head. Emma Swan was definitely a conundrum.

They sat there again in silence until Emma finally made herself stand up. Then she uncharacteristically held out her hand to help Regina up as well and Regina took it without thinking twice. Once their hands touched an energy went through them both and when they looked around the laundry room completely righted itself. Emma quickly let go of Regina's hand and luckily Regina was already on her feet otherwise she would have fallen from how fast Emma released her grip on her hand. Regina felt the loss immediately and noticed how Emma stuck her hands in her back pockets like she always did when she was nervous.

"I guess magic is good for something cause I was so not looking forward to cleaning up that mess." Emma talked with her usual casual tone that came so easily when she was trying to hide how she was really feeling.

"Well done, Miss Swan." Regina nodded in assurance.

"I'm sure that was more you than me. I mean look even our clothes are fixed," Emma said as she pointed at their clothes that were neatly folded and looking brand new, "that has you written all over it."

Regina just stood there watching as Emma went over to inspect the clothes. She couldn't see what Emma started chuckling at though until Emma turned around with a pair of Batman underwear held up in her outstretched hands. Regina scrunched her face in confusion, she hadn't been doing Henry's laundry today. "I told you it wasn't me that put my clothes in the dryer with yours."

Regina finally understood as she shook her head. Henry. Damn, kid was going to be the death of them both. Emma grabbed her clothes and went to walk back up the stairs.

"Oh, and if you don't want to write a book or make your own horse stables, the offer as my deputy still stands. It would definitely help with your boredom and blowing up things." Emma smirked back at her from the first step on the stairs.

"Really, Miss Swan?" Regina sighed in disbelief, "Like I said I spend enough time with you as it is, I don't want to spend workdays with you as well."

"Ah, Regina you know you miss me during the day. You are just counting down the minutes until I come home. You can admit it, your secrets safe with me." Emma winked and started walking up the stairs again as she saw Regina's face getting redder, whether it was from embarrassment or she was getting mad Emma couldn't tell. Emma suppressed her laugh though not wanting to upset the brunette too much. Not after their somewhat bonding experience.

"Miss Swan." Emma could hear the threat in Regina's voice and Emma did laugh then. Sometimes it was just too easy to get under Regina's skin and all too much fun.


End file.
